


Cool with You?

by EllieLWC



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Coming Out, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay Keith (Voltron), M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:40:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 59,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23707033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieLWC/pseuds/EllieLWC
Summary: “Keith.... Do you have a crush on Lance?”“No?”“Don’t lie.”“I’m not?” he lied.-----------------------“Keith? It's like 2am I thought you were tired?”Keith couldn’t get his words out, the lump in his throat was bigger than before, his was struggling to hold back crying. “Keith?”“I lied Pidge. I lied to you, I’m sorry” Keith cried softly.“Wh- Keith it's okay! I was just joking!” She sounded worried, as if her joke had gotten to him.“No Pidge. I like Lance-”----------------------------------------or: Keith had been pining over Lance for months but his feelings start to take over and he can't ignore them anymore.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 28
Kudos: 85





	1. Waking Up

**Author's Note:**

> Hai.  
> this is the second version of this story i didn't like the way i set up the first version.  
> This is also my first time sharing my work online :)
> 
> when texts are shown, bold is no Keith and normal is Keith.
> 
> thx pls enjoy :)

Keith lay in Lance’s bed, the light peeking through Lance’s blue curtains was blinding to him. He never slept too well but the headache beginning to form wasn’t helping him stay asleep. The hangover was starting to kick in, it had been a great night so it was worth it but Keith pitied himself a little knowing he had drunk a bit too much. The night before Keith, Lance, Pidge, Hunk and Matt had all agreed to celebrate New Year's Eve together and Lance had taken them to an abandoned park on top of a hill near his house. They watched the sunset pass over the hill, enjoyed Hunk’s homemade snacks and drank a lot of alcohol. It was a great night. Hunk, Pidge and Matt had been driven home by Hunk who agreed to be designated driver and parent for that night. Everyone turned the torches on their phones on and sat them upside down on the grass so they acted as spotlights, Lance and Matt raced around the park as Pidge gained lots of blackmail imagery. Keith however took this chance to eat a lot of Hunk’s cooking, he didn’t get to see Hunk a lot as he was more Lance’s friend than his but god did Keith love Hunk’s cooking. 

Keith had agreed to stay at Lance’s as Lance planned on getting shitfaced and would probably need someone to make sure he didn’t throw up everywhere or drunk text his crush. Him and Lance had been friend since childhood, they had grown up together until about 10 years old where Keith was thrown into the foster system very suddenly and he lost contact with Lance but they had found each other when they were both about 15 when Keith was adopted by Shiro and Adam. Lance and Keith were almost inseparable at times, once they had been reunited in Highschool things had gotten a lot better for the both of them. They told each other almost everything, except there was one large secret Keith was keeping from him. Keith had a crush on Lance, no one knew apart from Shiro and Adam. Lance was straight and had been crushing on the same girl since he was 13 so Keith had accepted defeat and tried his best to just ignore his feelings. 

But it was moments like these, where they shared a bed and Keith woke up before Lance which meant he could admire Lance. His mind would wander to forbidden places, Keith would imagine them cuddling, holding hands and kissing he always tried to stop himself at the kiss. It did hurt Keith to imagine those things and know they could never happen but if he didn’t tell anyone about the thoughts, he was having that was okay, no one could read his mind. So, he lay there, staring at Lance’s broad back, his skin looked so smooth and he imagined the shoulder blades stretching as Lance reached to hold him. The urge to reach out and touch Lance was screaming at him but he stopped himself. 

Suddenly Keith phone began to ring and Keith was thrown out of his fantasy, he jumped out of the bed and reached across for his phone pulling from the charger it was plugged into on Lance’s desk. It was Shiro: 

“Hey Keith are you there?” 

“Yeah I’m here.” Keith sounded groggy unlike Shiro who sounded completely normal. 

“You want me to come and pick you up? I was at the gym so I’ll be driving.” Shiro didn’t drink so he had spent New Year's at his apartment with Adam, Adam was on call so he couldn’t drink either. 

“Uh...” Keith glanced over to Lance, he was out cold and snoring into his pillow. “Yeah sure, I think Lance’s parents are asleep too, they went out drinking too so its probably bets if I get out of their hair.” 

“Okay, I’m just packing up here so I’ll let you know when I’m setting off” 

“Okay bye.” 

“No worries, see you soon.” 

Keith looked back over to Lance; he was clutching the crumbled-up duvet as if it was a person nuzzling into it gently. He smiled, Lance was super clingy, he always had been probably because he had a large family so personal space wasn’t always an option. It had been strange to Keith when they had reunited in High school, Keith had become very distant and had a large personal bubble which Lance always ignored. Wrapping his arm around Keith or just poking and prodding him in some sort of way, it took Keith a while to adapt back to being touched. 

Shiro: 

08:06: Okay I’m on my way now. 

Lance stirred at the notification for a second before shoving his face back into the pillow. Keith sighed in relief, he knew as soon as Lance woke up he would be hit with a crazy hangover and become a clingy child seeking sympathy. Keith found it adorable and therefore avoided it at all costs. Grabbing his bag and collecting his things he creeped out of Lance’s room, taking one last look at Lance before leaving the room. He looked so peaceful, his face had no creases or expression to it, his skin looked smooth and shined beautifully in the early sunlight. 

Keith made his way downstairs, trying to be as quiet as possible. There was commotion in the living room, the TV was playing and you could hear the small discussion of Lance’s Abuela and younger sister. He entered the living room greeting them with a smile. “Good morning.” 

“Ah, Buenos dias Keith!” She talked in a mix of English and Spanish and had a thick accent so sometimes Keith struggled to talk to her. Despite the language barrier though she treated Keith like she would any of her grandchildren and Keith admired her for that. He hadn’t met any of his family apart from his parents so he never had a Grandparent figure to look up to. But she had seen Lance and Keith grow up together and she loved Keith like her own family, she would kiss him on the cheek and scold him in a language he couldn’t understand and Keith loved it. 

“Shiro is picking me up soon so do you need any help with anything in the mean time?” Keith offered. She had been babysitting Lance’s younger siblings the night before so his parents could go out. He assumed she was probably tired. 

“No... no. Just sit here have some juice” She ambled over to the counter that connected the kitchen to the living room pouring Keith a small cup of orange juice. He thanked her and sipped it slowly while helping her to the couch. She walked with a cane after she had a bad fall a few years back. She claimed she didn’t need it and could handle herself and acted like she wasn’t 78 years old. Lance always thought she was pushing herself too much and would insist on her holding his arm as they walked so Keith always did the same. 

They sat together and watched as Lance’s younger sister, Maya, played with her dolls on the coffee table and watched early morning kids shows. It was mindless content and was fun to laugh at so him and Abuela chatted as best they could about how strange kids shows were. He had learnt to pick up Spanish phrases throughout the years just from observing lance’s family and so he could sometimes understand parts of Abuelas Spanish ramblings. 

Shiro: 

08:34: I’m outside 😊 😁😎🤗 

Keith cringed at the amount of emojis Shiro always used. He knew it was probably only a joke so he could fit more into the Dad aesthetic but he still cringed. He sat up from the couch and thanked Abuela asking her to thank Lance’s parents for him too. She shook her hand insisting that he didn’t need to thank them. Keith received a kiss on the cheek and a small hug from Maya before grabbing his things and heading out the door. 

Shiro greeted him and asked about Keith's night. Keith told him about the phone spotlights and the races and how good Hunks cooking was. Memories had started coming back to him slowly as he recalled the night, he mentioned giving Lance a piggyback ride home because Lance was too drunk to walk and how Pidge had gotten a lot of blackmail imagery. Shiro laughed at his stories and started up the engine. 

Car rides with Shiro were quiet, Shiro didn’t like distractions while driving so the radio played quietly and Keith stayed silent. Keith didn’t mind it too much, gave him more time to think about the night before and fill in the missing parts of his memory. Also gave him a chance to admire the countryside, Lance lived just outside the city and the landscape was a lot prettier to Keith. He had grown up in the countryside with his parents so he enjoyed being able to see it all again when on the bus to or at Lance’s house. 

Once they were back in the city Keith texted Lance and Pidge: 

Lance: 

08:54: hey dude you were out cold and wanted to avoid hungover you so I left :p hope your hangover isn’t too bad 

Pidge: 

08:55: Pidgeon. Back home now, send me pics from last night pls 

He knew neither would respond for a while, Lance would be struggling with his hangover and Pidge would be trying to sleep off hers. Keith debated texting Hunk; would it be strange to text him out of nowhere since they never really talked one on one? Or would it be rude to text everyone except him? Fuck it. 

Hunk: 

08:59: Hey hunk, hope you got home okay! :p 

09:00: Hey man! :DD nah I didn’t end up going home, I crashed at Pidges place since Matt was a lil crazy lol 

09:00: Oh damn! Is he okay? 

09:02: ye he’ll be okay lol probably just gonna have a bad hangover like Lance will have aha! I’m cooking a breakfast for him and his parents now too keep him going 

Keith tried to hold back his jealousy, being hungover and having Hunk be your personal chef would be the best! 

09:03: ahh fair enough. Lance was out cold when I left. How's Pidge? 

09:04: sleeping it off XD 

09:06: not surprised ahaha 

Hunk didn’t respond, probably got caught up cooking. Keith had arrived home anyway so he pocketed his phone and attempted to leave the care. But Shiro hadn’t unlocked it even though the engine was off. Keith knew what was coming, peering over his shoulder he saw Shiro with his eyebrows raised a cheeky smirk on his face. 

“So... did anything happen between you and Lance?” 

“no... he's straight Shiro nothing will ever happen.” Keith groaned; the door was still locked. 

“Your gaydar isn’t the best is it Keith?” He didn’t move just watched Keith. 

“I- Shiro I’ve known him since I was a toddler! I think I would have gotten a few hints by now.” It was true, Lance had never shown any interest in men and he had been crushing on a girl called Allura since he was 13. Lance had been so happy when he realised they were going to the same college, Keith had sat through hours of Lance pining over her and Lance had even flirted casually with her a few time but he never scored a date. 

Shiro shrugged, admitting defeat again. He tried to have this talk with Keith every month and Keith always shuts it down. Truth is, Keith did want to talk about but he always got too emotional that’s why he had never told anyone else, the situation looked hopeless to him he just had to get over him already. 

Kosmo greeted Keith in the doorway, jumping on his hind legs and Keith holding his front paws as he jumped up to lick Keith's face. He played with Kosmo at the door for a minute, kneeling down and letting Kosmo jump all over him while attempting to keep his balance. Shiro stepped over them both entering the apartment. 

Shiro’s apartment was quite small, it had two bedrooms, one bathroom and small space for a kitchen and living room with a balcony big enough for Kosmo to lay out on in summer. It was quaint and cheap which is what Shiro needed. Shiro worked in social services, more specifically he dealt with children in the foster system, finding them homes, checking up on them and their foster families. It was a stressful job and Shiro had gone through a lot in the past five years. Keith appreciated the efforts he made to make things easier for foster kids though and the hard work he put in to give Keith a home. Shiro sat on the couch looking over files laid out over the coffee table, it was probably a hard case again. 

“How's it going?” Keith approached Shiro and leaned forward resting his arms on the top of the couch to look over Shiro's shoulder. 

“It's hard like usual, this time of year isn’t easy for kids or foster families. No one wants to have such a big change right before the holidays so we have a lot of kids who need to start finding home for.” Shiro told him about the children he had to find proper homes for and how there was a lack of foster families in the city. 

It hit Keith hard, he had been thrown from foster family to foster family for 5 years and it sucked. It was a complicated situation; his information had been lost in a house fire and Shiro was Keith’s next of kin so he was never contacted when the house fire happened. Luckily Keith met Pidge who was Matt’s younger sister and Matt was Shiro’s best friend and by a stroke of luck Shiro met Keith while he was at Pidge’s place once. Shiro then spent 3 years desperately trying to prove he was Keith’s next of kin and had a suitable home for Keith. 

He left Shiro to his work, had some breakfast and sat out on the balcony with Kosmo, it was cold but he covered himself in a fluffy blanket which Kosmo then decided to lay on top, trapping Keith in his seat. Kosmo used to be small but had grown massive very quickly and didn’t realise he wasn’t a small puppy anymore. They sat out on the balcony for a while, Keith scrolled through Instagram, the only social media besides snapchat he agreed to have. 

Pidge: 

08:55: Pidgeon. Back home now, send me pics from last night pls 

10:32: Im ded xp 

10:32: oof wonder whose fault that is 

10:36: shush. Im ded again now bye 

10:37: lol msg me when you alive :] 

Keith spent the rest of his day chilling, drinking lots of water and trying to avoid his hangover. Adam, Shiro’s boyfriend, had gotten home around midday and collapsed in Shiro's arms. He worked at a hospital and had been called in late last night/early this morning, he had worked a long shift and spent the rest of it in Shiro's arms on the couch watching movies. Him and Keith chatted a little, they told each other about their New Year's Eve antics, Adam being very envious he couldn’t go out himself. 

In the afternoon, just before sunset he took Kosmo out for a walk around the nearby park, it had a large field and a park and benches scattered around the footpaths. It gave Kosmo a chance to get out his energy before everyone else settled down for the night and Keith liked the time alone. He thought about a lot of things while out for the walk, mostly Lance but he’d never admit that out loud. 

He sat himself down on a bench in the centre of the park, he left Kosmo run around on his own while watching him from his seat. A familiar face sat next to him. 

“Yo.” Pidge sat next to him. Hood covering her head and shadowing her face probably because she looked rough from the night before. Keith wasn’t surprised by her sudden appearance; she probably saw he was nearby on snap maps. 

“Evening. Thought you were dead” 

“Still am. But something piqued my interest and you have good timing.” 

Keith furrowed his brows at that, “Huh?” Turning to look at her his stomach dropped. 

Pidge was holding up a picture from the night before, the image in question show Keith and Lance holding hands, bodies slightly blurry from motion blur. Lance was looking forward with a big smile and shut eyes but Keith was looking at Lance, his eyes full of love that was hard to deny, his smile was wider than it usually was and his face was blushed bright red. Keith immediately blushed at the image and looked away. 

“What?” he tried to say as innocently as possible. 

“Keith. That’s the gay look!” 

“The what?” Keith knew exactly what she was on about, Keith had a face he made when he thought about certain things. Those certain things being his crushes, the expression he was making in that image was the ‘gay look’ times a million. 

“Keith.... Do you have a crush on Lance?” 

“No?” 

“Don’t lie.” 

“I’m not?” he lied. He was panicking internally; Pidge could probably see right through it but like hell was he going to admit it. She stared intently at him, Keith struggled to keep eye contact. He could the heat grow on his cheeks and he had a lump in his throat. 

“I’m not going to push you but whenever you want to you can tell me.” Pidge looked away from him. They both sat in silence as Keith hesitated to respond. If he told her she would be fine with it but she would go inspector mode to see if there was any gay in Lance too, Keith didn’t want to play that game, he knew Lance was straight. 

“Okay but there's nothing to tell.” 

They sat in silence for a few minutes, it was comfortable silence. They watched the clouds change shape and the sky begin to darken as the sun set. Kosmo eventually came running back as a sign that he was ready to go home. Pidge grabbed Kosmo by the fur on his cheeks, ruffling it as she spoke to him in a silly tone. Kosmo was gentle with Pidge, maybe because she was shorter or because he had knocked her over a few times in the past. Keith wasn’t sure. 

They both stood up and began walking towards one of the exits from the park. They walked a different route to the one Keith had taken; this route took them towards Pidge’s apartment. Keith wanted to ask her if she was going to talk to Lance about the image, she had but he didn’t, she would notice his worry and try to investigate further. But he couldn’t think of any conversation starters, so he just walked in silence with her until she spoke up. 

“So... you wanna call tonight? We could play Voltron or something?” Voltron was a multiplayer game where you could play in a team of up to 7 to fight rounds of alien ships. It was best to play with at least 5 people because then you could perform a special move that gave your team an advantage but usually it was only Keith and PIdge who played. It was much harder with only two players but they had managed to traverse a lot of levels and they had gotten stuck on a level a few weeks back and not touched the game since. 

“Sure. With randoms or just us?” 

“Just us. I can’t stand having randoms on our team I’d rather just perfect a plan for two and struggle.” 

Keith laughed; Lance liked the game but he didn’t have a PC good enough for it so he only played it when at Keith’s place. Thinking of he hadn’t heard from Lance since he text him this morning. He glanced down at his phone as Pidge began strategizing for their game later, no texts. Lance must have been really hungover. It still worried Keith, Lance usually would have text him by now. 

Pidge had gone silent; she was watching him with a smirk. 

“What?” Keith pocketed his phone. 

“Nothing!” She raised her hands up in defence and shrugged. “Just whenever you wanna tell me you can” she whispered. 

Keith groaned, “There's nothing to tell Pidge.” 

“Fine. Well I guess I’ll leave you with your gay thoughts then” She said as she walked into her building. Keith sighed and she smiled back, standing in the elevator waving with an evil smile until the door shut. When she was finally out of sight, Keith let out a big sigh, one that made a puff of warm air leave his nose. Kosmo whimpered at him and they continued on home. 

The sun had fully set by the time he was back, Adam and Shiro were asleep on the couch together and Kosmo joined them on the floor below. Keith imagined him and Lance like that, passed out together cuddling. He thought about how nice it must feel. 

He made himself some dinner before retreating to his room, shutting the door so that Kosmo couldn’t disturb him. He called Pidge and they played Voltron for several hours together, they didn’t pass the level though even after Pidge demanded Matt get on his PC and help them, they couldn’t beat the level. 

Time passed quickly while playing and Keith felt his eyelids becoming heavy around 1am. He probably hadn't slept much at Lance’s house, they got back home around 3am and Keith woke up at 8am. He didn’t sleep well usually so it was still a better sleep than he normally had but that was probably because he was with Lance more than anything else. Eventually he had to leave the call and say goodnight to Pidge, he opened his door slightly so Kosmo could get in if he wished and he stripped off to get into bed. Once his head hit the pillow he was out. 

Keith dreamt of him and Lance, they were at the beach. The dream was fuzzy but he held hands with Lance and touched his bare chest. Things in the dream escalated and the actions became more risqué within the thick haze of Keith's dream. There was hot breath against skin, touches that sent shivers up Keith's spine and moans and open mouths kissing. Keith could feel himself getting closer to the edge when his phone rang. 

Then Keith was in his bed, sweating profusely and disorientated by the sudden change. The phone kept ringing and the tune droned in Keith's head, he blindly reached for the phone still half asleep. Lance was calling him? 

“lance-” 

“Oh my god Keith!!! You’ll never guess what just happened!!” Lance sounded excited, he was pacing back and forth by the sounds of the wind blowing into the mic. 

“Is everything okay? I- what time is it?” Keth sat up looking over to his alarm clock: 2:23am. 

“Everything's great Keith!! You won't believe it.” Keith didn’t have time to respond before Lance was talking again. “guess who rung me?” 

“Uh-” 

“Allura!!” 

Keith's heart stopped; his breath hitched for a second. “Wha-” 

“I know crazy right? She texted me this afternoon and then we got talking and then she rung me! She asked me out on a date! Tomorrow. Super sudden but yeah I have a date! A date with Allura!” Lance continued for several minutes without stopping, he didn’t realise how Keith hadn’t spoken. 

Keith felt crushed, like his heart had been swiped out of his chest and stepped on. It hurt a lot. Keith couldn’t find the words he just listened to Lance. He shouldn’t have been surprised by this; Lance had the biggest crush on Allura so it only made sense that they would eventually get together. But it still stung to have it actually happen now. 

“-so yeah then we agreed to meet at like 12 outside the café!! Oh shit wait that means if I don’t go to sleep soon my skin will be all messed up. Gotta go!” 

“Ah-” Lance hung up before Keith could say anything. He was just left in the emptiness of his room; it came crashing down at once for him. His eyes swelled up with tears and he couldn’t breathe for a minute. He could barely compose himself and that when he rang Pidge. 

“Keith? It's like 2am I thought you were tired?” Pidge didn’t sound tired; she was probably still up. Keith couldn’t get his words out, the lump in his throat was bigger than before, his was struggling to hold back crying. “Keith?” 

“I lied Pidge. I lied to you, I’m sorry” Keith cried softly. 

“Wh- Keith it's okay! I was just joking!” She sounded worried, as if her joke had gotten to him. 

“No Pidge. I like Lance-” He began to sob. Pidge hesitated to speak there was muffles over the phone and then she spoke. 

“Okay, wait outside your door okay?” 

“mhm” Keith hummed, still crying. 

“And stay on the phone! If anything happens, you'll have proof that I attacked them in self-defence!” 

Keith laughed quietly, wiping his eyes. 

Pidge rushed over and Keith was sat outside the apartment door leaning against it. Pidge approached slowly, she was panting wearing a large winter coat and earmuffs with her fluffy pyjama pants and big black boots over them. She looked down at Keith, “Do you need a hug?” she said in a joking tone? 

Keith laughed as she sat next to him. “So, you like Keith huh?” 

“Yeah. I have for a while now” Keith spoke softly, his knees were tucked up to his chest and he rested his chin on them. 

Pidge sighed, “what happened. Because I know you and I know that something happened between the park and right now to get you like this.” 

“He has a date. Allura asked him out.” 

“Oh shit.” Keith peered at her with annoyance. “sorry not the best response but I just didn’t see it coming.” 

“yeah, me neither.” Keith nuzzled his cheek into his knee and stared at the floor. Pidge didn’t say anything she just put a hand on his shoulder and looked at the ceiling. She wore a weak smile and her brows bent with sympathy. 

“What are you gonna do?” She asked. 

“Nothing. He's straight.” 

“We don’t know that” 

“Well he’s never said otherwise” 

“Well he’s never said he’s straight either!” She mocked Keith's tone. She was right, Lance had never said he was straight but he had never show interest in men. 

“I’m not getting my hopes up.” 

“what so you're just gonna be sad while Lance kisses some basic popular girl?” 

“I guess...” Keith sounded hopeless. 

“You don’t want to do anything about it?” 

“What can I do? I don’t want to confess and then everything gets awkward.” 

“True...” Pidge was stumped too. Just as lost as Keith. Pidge wouldn’t push Keith to do something if she wasn’t positive it would work. 

Pidge stood from the floor and bent over to observe Keith’s face. He eyes searching the details of Keith's face. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Shush” she snapped as she just eyed Keith's face. “Yeah, I could make you look like a girl, some makeup and wax strips.” Keith didn’t know how to respond. 

“What?” 

“Simple if Lance is straight then you just become a woman.” She paced in a small circle; arms raised as she smiled at her genius idea. 

“No.” 

“What why not?” 

“I’m not going to lie to him or trick him. I want him to like me not some altered version of me I became just for him.” 

“True but we could make you more feminine? You’re a bottom, right?” 

Keith blushed, she wasn’t wrong but Keith didn’t want to wear makeup or any girly stuff. “Thats just offensive.” 

“Kidding aha you should know I’m the last person who would say offensive shit like that” She held her hand sup in defence and froze on the spot. Her hadn’t shaped in a finger pointer against her chin she smiled at Keith, “You are a bottom, though aren’t you?” 

Keith just hid his head in his knees, “shut up.” She laughed and kneeled down next to him. Placing a hand on his shoulder, he looked up at her, she tilted her head slightly and smiled at him. 

“We’ll get through this though, you aren’t alone Keith.” 

Keith smiled back at her weakly. He fell backwards as the front door to his apartment flew open. Keith fell onto his back and Pidge stayed kneeled in front of the doorway looking up. 

“Hey Shiro.” Pidge smiled. Shiro stood in the doorways, still holding the door handle tightly, he was only in a pair of long track bottoms and slippers. He looked tired and distressed. 

Pidge and Keith were sat on the kitchen counter as Shiro scolded them about leaving their apartments this late without telling anyone. They sat and listened as he listed the dangers and risks. They apologised weakly. 

“Now. What happened.” He looked at them both concerned. He had the ‘serious Shiro’ expression that told them that he wasn’t playing around. Keith and Pidge whimpered looking at each other. 

“Okay, long or short story?” 

After Keith explained the long story of what happened with Lance to Shiro he forced him into a tight hug. It lasted too long and Pidge sat awkwardly on the counter as it happened. Sure, Keith needed it and he appreciated every second of it but it probably was the wrong time for a sincere brotherly hug. 

Keith referred to Shiro as his brother rather than Dad. It was a mutual agreement, they felt more like brothers and calling a dude only 12 years older than you Dad felt strange for both of them. 

Shiro decided it was best they walk Pidge back to her apartment, they walked back together with Kosmo. When they left Pidge, Shiro was silent. He wasn’t angry, Keith couldn’t read his face though. It looked worried but annoyed, maybe he was just tired? Shiro didn’t say much when they got back home either just “I hope you’re alright Keith. Goodnight.” Keith just went back to his room. 

He had left his phone in his pocket since Shiro caught him and Pidge. He had 2 texts from Lance: 

02:45: sorry for leaving so suddenly! I’ll text you later 

03:06: Do you think she actually likes me? 

Keith didn’t respond, he wanted to say ‘yeah of course why would she ask you out if she didn’t like you!’ but he wanted the answer to be no. It felt bad to admit but he so hoped that it didn’t work out between Lance and Allura. 

Keith was in and out of sleep, he didn’t dream much if he did they felt too real and he would wake up in a panic. There was fire and Lance and trees and the ocean. It was a cluster of a million different things at once, eventually Keith gave up and stayed awake. He watched the sun come up from his window. 

Lance: 

03:06: Do you think she actually likes me? 

08:43: Yeah, why would she ask you out if she wasn’t interested? 

08:47: Good luck with your date :p 

His pain didn’t show through the texts but it took a lot for him to text him those words. He didn’t cry but he was close. Keith felt pathetic, he was so sad all of a sudden. He should have seen this coming; he isn’t allowed to be shocked by this because he stopped himself from having something with Lance. Like pidge said, Lance never said he was straight Keith just assumed and he felt so hopeless now. He missed his chance. 

The next few days went by in a blur to Keith. Lance’s date went well, very well from what he heard off lance. He caught on the school work he had been ignoring and he played a lot of Voltron with Pidge. He tried his best to text Lance as if everything was fine and the hurt faded over the days, it was still there but it didn’t sting as much. 

Before he knew it, Keith was back to college. Waking up at 7am to get ready and meeting Pidge in the mornings when their timetables matched up. Lance got up much earlier as he had to get a bus into the city at 7am and usually he would meet Hunk as they shared some classes. They didn’t run into each other for the first few days back, Keith just sticked with Pidge and attended class as normal. Keith and Lance would just text back and forth throughout the day, things went back to normal in Keith's life for the most part. 

Lance: 

16:04: hey would you wanna go to this cool café with me hunk and allura? Pidge can come too if she wants ;p 

Keith was going to say no, but Pidge insisted that they go as she hadn’t met Allura and she wanted to ‘analyse’ their relationship. Keith cringed at the statement; Lance had never said it was official between them. 

16:17: Ye sure me and pidge will be there 

16:18: :DD 

The next day Keith and PIdge met Lance, Hunk and Allura outside the café. When they arrived, Lance was holding Allura hand tightly as she smiled and chatted to Hunk as Lance searched the streets for Keith and Pidge. When Lance saw them, he smiled and waved approaching them with Allura’s hand still in his grasp. Pidge left Keith's side to chat to Hunk and Keith immediately panicked. 

“Hey Keith! How have you been?” 

“Ah- Uh yeah good, good. How about you?” 

“Great! Just getting used to early mornings again” He frowned, lance never was good at waking up early. His commute was a tough one. “So, Allura meet Keith. Keith meets Allura.” 

Allura took her eyes off Lance to meet Keith’s eyes, she smiled weakly. “Hi” She seemed nervous. 

“Hey” Keith said back, smiling weakly as well. He was nervous too. 

Lance sensed the tension and guided everyone into the café. They were seated and given menus. They were sat in a corner booth so the seat was just one long half circle, Keith and Lance in the middle with Allura sat next to lance and Pidge sat next to Keith with Hunk next to her. The café was sweet themed and all the items were over the top and probably very sickening, Keith was a fan of sweet stuff but this was a little much in his opinion. Looking up from the menu he saw Pidge watching Allura closely, her expression was curious and confused. Keith kicked her lightly in the shin “Stop being creepy.” he whispered from behind a menu. 

“She's acting weird don’t you think?” Pidge whispered back; she seemed a little nervous or tense. Something was off for sure but Keith just assumed it was nerves. Looking up at her she seemed out of it or lost, Lance was talking away to her and she just seemed distant and too smiley. 

“She definitely is acting weird. She’s like this all the time.” Hunk butted in also hiding behind a menu. 

“What are you guys doing?” lance asked from across the table. Pidge pushed Keith towards him and lay the menu flat on the table standing to point at an item on it. 

“Look! The 50-banana split challenge, eat the whole things and you get a £200 gift card for the café!” She was trying to distract lance but, in the process, she had pushed Keith into Lance and Keith's hand had landed on Lances thigh. 

Keith blushed from the sudden contact; Lance didn’t react it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary to him. Keith looked at Lance in panic then to Allura who was watching him closely, her smile gone. He removed his hand and shuffled back towards Pidge. 

Pidge and Lance debated getting the 50-banana split to share but Hunk talked them out of it by saying there was probably a one-person rule. Keith wasn’t paying attention though he was too busy trying to cool down his face. Allura's face wasn’t angry it was just observant, neutral. It was strange. 

Things calmed and they all silently read through the menu. There was a lot of crazy options, Keith noted about coming back here as there were too many things he wanted to try. 

“You look pretty into that menu Keith.” Lance laughed; his eyes bright as he watched Keith from behind his own menu. Keith smiled without thinking, “So what are you getting?” Lance shuffled across the booth to be shoulder to shoulder with Keith. 

“Uh, I was thinking this or maybe this one.” he pointed to two drinks that had especially caught his attention. One was a strawberry skittle milkshake with whip cream and a giant flake, the other was a chocolate milkshake that had Oreos and whip cream it was black and white themed. 

“Yo! I was gonna get the skittle one, would you wanna get the other one and try mine?” Lance offered. He leaned to the menu, his face closer to Keith's, much closer to Keith's. 

Keith could feel the warmth coming off Lance, he could see the tiny freckles dotted across lances face he could see the bright blue in his like the brightest, clearest sky. “Yeah sure.” He replied softly, Lance smiled and shuffled back towards Allura and it suddenly felt like there was a huge gap between them. 

They made their orders and talked amongst themselves while waiting, Pidge chatted a lot with Allura. It seemed innocent on the outside but Keith knew what she was doing, Lance and Hunk chatted as well and Keith jumped between conversations. 

Allura seemed nice, she was from a rich family and her Dad was a successful businessman It sounded like she had a strict life, getting up at 5am every day and being in bed by 10pm, daily workout and a modelling career on the side. She had a lot on her plate and a status to upkeep. Keith was impressed, a busy life but a successful one. 

Once their food arrived, they all dug in. Allura had ordered a slice of cake that was rainbow layered Hunk went into detail about how nicely made it was and how he would have to get notes off the chef. Hunk got a Bubble waffle that had a mix of fruits and sweet sauces on it, Pidge got a mini banana split still salty about being talked out of the 50-banana challenge. Keith’s drink was divine, it had crushed up Oreos in it and a white chocolate milkshake with milk chocolate sauce. It was super chocolatey; Lance would hate it. 

“You wanna try mine?” Lance offered to Allura, she declined too busy with her own. “Keith?” 

“Sure” He pulled the straw out of his drinking going to dip it into Lance’s. 

“What no, you know I hate chocolate just use my straw.” He pulled his drink back in disgust. Keith could feel Pidge scream internally at the thought of an indirect kiss, she wasn’t the only one Keith was freaking out. 

“You not worried about the germs?” 

“No? Come on its just you?” 

Keith hesitated but took a sip out of Lance’s straw. The moment felt intimate and special to him, like he was somehow making progress with Lance? Pidge had given him false hope, for days Keith had been telling himself that maybe Lance wasn’t straight but in reality Lance just saw Keith as one of the boys and this wasn’t a special moment. 

The drink tasted sour, it was sweet and nice but Keith couldn’t properly focus on the flavour. 

“It's good.” Keith nodded 

“Really? You seemed a little disappointed?” 

“No, not with the drink.” 

They stayed in café chatting until Allura got a phone call that an assistant was coming to pick her up. It was a shame; the evening had been fun and Keith had become a little closer with Hunk and Allura. They walked to the pickup point Allura had chosen and they waited with her for her car to come. 

Lance and her held hands and smiled and laughed a few more times before the car arrived. Allura’s dad rolled down the passenger side window and smiled at her friends, they all smiled back. Allura turned from her dad to Lance, pulling him into a tight embrace and kissing him on the lips before she got in the car. Lance was left speechless and froze during the whole ordeal. It felt like Keith was intruding, he had never seen Lance so out of character. He is usually a confident flirty guy but because of her he was left a blushing mess. Keith wished to be that girl, he wanted to do that to Lance. He wanted to kiss lance and be able to embrace him like that. It heated Keith like a fire. 

Lance and Hunk left to go to their bus stop and Pidge and Keith agreed to get a bus since it was dark. They went their separate ways and Lance didn’t hug Keith goodbye. 

Pidge and Keith were sat on the bus, Keith near the window and Pidge on the aisle seat. It was silent, an awkward silent, they both hadn’t expected Allura to do what she did. Keith had his heart stepped on and Pidge had to watch it happen. She leaned her head on his shoulder. 

“Sorry Keith” It was a sorry from her it was one of those sympathetic sorrys that people said when they didn’t know what to say. He had heard a million of them while in the system, ‘oh I’m so sorry for what you’ve been through’ or ‘sorry we couldn’t do anything.’ It was the worst type of sorry because it made Keith feel powerless. He debated not responding to her but he felt bad, she was there for him and he shouldn’t push her away. 

He rested his head on hers. 

“Its okay.”


	2. Hunk's Birthday and Valentines Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> second chapter :) thanks for the kudos. hope you enjoy aha
> 
> when they speak in italics they are speaking in a different language but its written in english for easy reading :)

After the café Keith felt defeated, he knew there was nothing he could do. If he confessed to Lance now he would ruin a budding relationship but if she stayed quiet and continued to pine over Lance he would just hurt himself. So he stayed quiet and went back to ignoring his feelings. He avoided lance for a few weeks, still texting but he was always conveniently busy or swamped with work. 

January 13th was Hunks birthday and Keith couldn’t avoid that. Hunk was a fan of big events so it was just Lance Keith, Pidge and his long-distance girlfriend Shay who came in for Hunks birthday that weekend. The group went out for a meal together at a fancy restaurant, aka Hunk’s dream job, they insisted Hunk order whatever he want and they would split his bill between them. 

The restaurant was Korean orientated, Keith used to be able to speak Korean quite well but after losing his parents he had no one to teach him. He could still read some words so the menu was easier to understand for him but it wasn’t like he could translate it correctly. 

“Hey Keith what does this say?” Lance leaned into Keith's personal space with a menu open. Keith tensed, raising his shoulder avoiding eye contact with Lance. He read the item Lance was pointing to. 

“It’s a barbecue beef dish with...” he hesitated, studying the words closely. “marinated barbecue beef with... garlic? I think?” He repeated the wording to himself. “yeah that says garlic.” 

“Woah Keith, I didn’t know you spoke Korean!” Hunk looked at him with amazement. 

“I haven’t spoken it in like 8 years so I’m pretty rusty.” He replied shyly, he could see where the conversation was going and he was bracing himself for the next question. 

“How come?” 

There it was, the dreaded question. He avoided it at all cost because how do you casually say ‘oh well my Mum is Korean and my dad spoke it fluently so they taught me but then they died so I stopped.’ it always creates an awkward air and people always did the sympathetic apology thing. 

“Um, my Dad spoke Korean fluently but I stopped living with him when I was 10 and I didn’t know anyone else who spoke it so I just forgot it over the years.” Keith offered. Pidge and Lance both didn’t say anything, they both knew there was more to the story that Keith wasn’t sharing. 

Pidge knew more than Lance about the situation, mainly because she had met him while he was in-between foster families and she had been a shoulder for Keith to cry on when he felt like he had lost everyone. Pidge also knew Keith on a deeper level, sure Lance and Keith had grown up together but lance had disappeared during a crucial time for Keith. Lance had never asked about what happened so Keith didn’t tell. He assumes that Lance’s Mama probably told him a brief ‘Keith is an orphan now’ type story but he and Lance had never spoken one on one about that time. 

He preferred it that way, Keith didn’t like talking about his parents too much, he got teary eyed and nostalgic. Vulnerable. 

“I know Korean, or at least I’m learning.” Shay chirped in. She was nice from what Keith had seen of her but she had been quiet until now. “We could learn it together if you want?” 

Keith looked up at her, she smiled at him. The atmosphere at the table had shifted for a second, Hunk purposefully didn’t respond with any more questions to Keith he was nice like that. Hunk could read people very well and he probably saw how uncomfortable Keith had gotten when he mentioned his Dad. Keith smiled back at her, silently thanking her for lifting the awkward mood. 

“Really, that’d be great. I know Japanese as well aha! Picked it up from Shiro.” he shared; it was the first time he had met someone who spoke Korean since he lived with his Dad. 

Everyone awed in amazement, Keith wasn’t very open about that either. He only spoke it when him and Shiro were alone or in a situation where they didn’t want others understanding them. To Keith it was his secret language between him and Shiro, they had used it when Shiro first started dating Adam. 

Shiro would ask Keith his opinion on Adam or fanboy over him to Keith while Adam was in the room. Shiro had a tendency to slip into Japanese if he was flustered or super happy or excited. But Adam had picked up words and phrases over the years so he could understand most of Shiro's go-to lines now. 

After they had their meal Hunk drove everyone home, Shay staying at his apartment with him they decided to give him some alone time. Making stupid gestures at him as he drove away with Shay. 

PIdge, Lance and Keith hung out at Keith's place for the rest of the evening. Lance lay on Keith's bed snuggling Kosmo as if he was a real person, Lance was never allowed his own pets since he had such a busy household anyway. Kosmo was a very soft dog, he loved cuddles and being manhandled so Lance could literally do anything to him and Kosmo wouldn’t care. Lance spoke in a silly voice to Kosmo giving him words of praise and he ruffled the fur on his head about and Kosmo licked him in response. 

Pidge sat at Keith's desk setting up a modded version of Skyrim for them to play. Keith sat against his bed on the floor holding Kosmo’s backfoot as he watched Pidge mod the hell out of his Skyrim game. 

“Okay I think it ready.” Pidge pushed herself away from the desk on Keith's wheelie chair, welcoming either of the boys to come play the new and improved game. 

Both got up and walked over to the PC, Keith clicking new game and waiting as the game loaded. “So what exactly did you add?” Lance asked watching from over Keith's shoulder. 

“Just some quality of life modifications, some improvements to the graphics, HUD and NPC’s” Pidge adjusted her glasses with a smirk. Keith didn’t trust her; no way Pidge is given free access to his PC and she only did good things. Pidge was evil, but in the good way. 

The game started up as usual, ‘Hey you, finally awake.’ etc etc. The graphics were noticeably better, smoother and the NPC’s had more detail. There were a few more character creation options, new sliders and extra details to add. But when it got to the point where the player is about to be beheaded a familiar tune began to play very quietly in the background and Pidge went suspiciously quiet. The music got louder and louder until suddenly Thomas the Tank engine appeared and the speakers blew the ear rape Thomas the tank engine theme song played. 

“Fucking knew it!” Keith shouted before holding his head in his hands. 

Everyone erupted into laughter, Lance held himself up by keeping his hand in the centre of Keith's back but Pidge was gone, knelt down on the floor as Kosmo licked her face in panic of the sudden commotion. 

Lances touch was gentle, Keith could feel his fingertips tracing across his spine. Lance’s laugh was beautiful, it had barely changed from when they were kids. His voice became higher and his laughs layered over each other as he struggled to hold back giggles, it was amazing. Keith felt his cheeks flush but played it off as blush from laughing. 

They continued playing, Pidge had added a very complex cheat menu which allowed them access to rare weapons and progression cheats. So, they just fucked around, flying across the map and changing the values of things to break the game. Keith didn’t mind, he had never been able to get into Skyrim, he had only bought it because it was on sale and Pidge said it was like Zelda: breath of the wild but with an even bigger world. 

Pidge knew Keith's favourite game was Zelda: BOTW so she guided Keith to a place in the map that had become Hyrule castle but realistic. His eyes lit up with amazement, he was so happy. He explored every section of the castle noting all the details added in. Lance had never played a Zelda game, so he just sat back and watched Keith admire the castle. 

“Is Zelda really that good?” he asked, Pidge winced at the question standing back from Keith. 

“What?” Keith said ominously. Pidge winced again, half laughing half cautiously taking another step back. 

“Is Zelda that good?” Lance asked again, now with a little hesitation due to Pidge’s reaction. 

Keith didn’t respond he just stood up from his chair and turned to face lance, standing above him as Lance was sat on the floor still stroking Kosmo. Lance looked up with a worried smirk, Pidge began to retreat into Keith's closet, hiding herself behind the door and peeking just her head into sight. 

“Zelda, is the best game I have ever played Lance. It does not compare-” Keith began to lecture Lance in a semi-serious semi-joking tone. Pidge and Lance began to laugh and Keith tried to keep up his scary act as he talked about the world and the art style. “You can even play the whole game as Link in just his underwear” at that Keith began laughing hysterically with them. 

“Keith you gay bitch!” Pidge said as she left the closet leaving the door slightly open, allowing Lance to see inside. Lance gasped in excitement and crawled over to the closet opening, grabbing Keith's platform boots up with wonder in his eyes. 

Keith had bought them a few years ago when he was at the peak of his emo phase. It was at a time in high school when he was around Lance a lot, Keith is average height but Lance is tall and would constantly tease him about it. When they were kids, they were always about the same height, until age 8 when Keith had an early growth spurt and Lance stayed short for the next two years. After they had met again in high school Lance had grown a lot and Keith was short when compared to him. He bought the boots to fit his aesthetic but also to combat the height difference between him and Lance. He still wore them from time to time but he hung around with Pidge most his time and wearing them made Pidge look even shorter. 

“Can I wear them?” Lance asked, not giving Keith time to respond before sliding his foot in. They only just about fit; Lance was a few shoe sizes bigger than Keith so it was a challenge for a second but after a few grunts and pushing he zipped them up. 

Lance approached Keith, laughing like a giant or a tall superhero as he did. He placed his hand on top of Keith head and ruffled his hair, Keith pushed his hand away in protest but it was no use. Lance wrapped his arm around Keith and turned them both towards Pidge. He approached Pidge and the height difference was astronomical, there always was a clear height difference between Lance and Pidge but now it was like seeing an adult next to a child. 

Lance place his hand on her shoulder and smiled. She glared up at him, silently telling him to choose his next words carefully. Lance just continued to smile, looking down at her with a glint of evil in his eye. 

“Don’t worry child we-” Lance was interrupted by Pidge throwing her whole body at him, pushing him back onto the bed. 

“Keith hold him down.” she demanded. Keith happily did so, Lance was taller than him but not stronger. They both worked out but Lance swam so his core and legs were more defined were as Keith did weightlifting so his arms were pretty beefy. 

“What?! No! What are you doing?” Lance protested, pushing against Keith's restraint and flailing his head about. “I’m revoking your power!” Pidge shouted as she rushed to grab the boots off his feet. 

Lance began to protest more; he was hopeless if he tried to push against Keith's arms so he began flailing his head more and more. Keith continued to restrain Lance hearing the zip of the boots begin to move. Lance screamed, lifting his head so it was inches away from Keith's. Keith panicked, he saw Lance’s head approaching his own and realised how close their lips were. He let go off Lance’s wrist and before he knew what was happening Lance had pinned him down. 

Keith looked up, his stomach did somersaults and his face flushed a deep red. Lance was leaning over him, holding him down to the bed and smirking at him with determination. He could see Lance’s shoulders stretch outwards, seeing the muscles contort in such a way that made his heart fly. His jacket had fallen down on one side that revealed a small section of his arm, the muscled flexed in a battle for power against Keith. Keith melted into it, he didn’t resist he just looked up at Lance, his eyes a mix of shock then lust. Lance's expression changed, his eyes widen ever so slightly and Keith felt Lances hips graze across his own as- 

“Got them!” 

“Dammit!” Lance shouted, his expression quickly changing again as he climbed off Keith. Keith didn’t move though, he lay breathless on his bed, arm still up by his head. He felt like the whole world had frozen and all at once his feelings for Lance came flying into his head and he couldn’t stop his cheeks from deepening in colour. 

Lance had left Keith on the bed to attempt to grab the shoes again but he had just missed Pidge putting them back in the closet. Pidge laughed manically at him; Lance looked down hands on his hips as he tried to play off his annoyance. 

Keith lifted himself up, resting himself on his arm and looking at the two arguing playfully. He felt like he had just woken up from a dream, he couldn’t believe what had just happened. Then he remembered the split second where Lance’s face changed to something he had never seen before. It was a face Lance had never made, his eyes were wide and sparkled and his smile was soft, cheeks tinted from laughter. 

There was a knock-on Keith's door and Keith shouted for them to come in. Shiro turned the door to open and stood in the doorway looking at Lance. 

“Hey Lance it’s ten.” 

“Oh yeah, I’ll grab my stuff. Thanks, Shiro!” Lance jumped to get his phone and they all followed Shiro into the hallway. Shiro had agreed to give Pidge and Lance a lift home so they all piled into Shiro's car. Keith and Pidge in the back as Lance sat in the front with Shiro. 

Pidge smirked at Keith, giving him the eyebrows as she looked between him and Lance. Keith gave her a disapproving look and pulled out his phone. 

Pidge: 

22:34: Don’t you dare 

22:34: >;] 

22:34: no!!! 

22:35: it was cute lol 

22:35: the gay panic on your face was funny 

22:35: … 

Keith received a snapchat off Lance, the picture was off Keith and Pidge both looking down at their phones, their faces illuminated by the screens. Keith’s eyebrows were furrowed as he held his phone close to his face and Pidge was casually holding her phone in her lap, biting her lip with an evil grin. Lances face could be seen in the corner, his eyebrows were raised and his lips were mocking a duckface. The caption said “What are you two talking bout?” 

Keith looked up towards Lance and saw himself in Lances phone screen, Lance turned slightly to face Keith in the space in-between his seats head rest and back rest. He smiled widely, showing his teeth and sticking his tongue out to one side. Keith held back a smile, facing his phone towards Lance and snapping a picture of his face. 

He had caught a perfect image of Lance. Lance could be seen peering through his seat towards Lance, his eyes forced shut by his wide smile, tongue peeking through his teeth. His expression was pure happiness and fun, it made Keith feel warm inside. His skin was tinted orange by the street lights and it made his skin look golden and glowing. The picture wasn’t clear enough to capture Lance’s freckles but Keith noted that they were beautiful in the current lighting. Keith sneakily saved the image to his memories before sending it to Lance, he quickly moved it to my eyes only and without skipping a beat he received a text. 

Pidge: 

22:37: Saw that >;3 

22:37: idk what you r talking about... 

They dropped Pidge off first, she only lived around the street so it was only a five-minute drive at most. They then began driving to Lance’s and although Keith enjoyed the country roads during the day, at night time the terrified him. They winded mysteriously and there were no streetlamps to illuminate the path it was just the car lights. Keith ignored the view, he leaned forwards resting his head on the back of Lance’s car seat without thinking. 

Lance must have felt him nudge his seat and reached a hand behind him offering it for Keith to hold. Keith watched the hand for a minute, Lance didn’t like these roads at night either. He reached out and Lance took his hand in a tight but gentle grasp. He stroked Keith hand with his thumb soothingly, Keith smiled, even though Lance was scared too he concentrated on making sure Keith was okay. Keith squeezed Lance’s hand back. 

Since the roads were empty, they reached Lance's house quicker than usual. Lance thanked Shiro for the ride and was about to leave when he suddenly remembered: 

“Oh wait! Shiro you taught Japanese, didn’t you?” 

“Um, yeah?” Shiro was confused by the question. 

“That's so cool!!” 

“Please don’t do the basic thing everyone does when they find out someone can speak a language...” Keith interjected raising his head from the back of Lance’s seat. 

“No no! Of course, not but.... would you guys have a conversation right now! In Japanese?” Lance asked, he looked at Shiro and Keith like a kid would. Shiro and Kieth looked at each other and then back to Lance. 

“Why?” They said in unison. 

“I don’t know, um...” He thought for a moment, “You guys have a conversation and I’ll try and guess what you were talking about.” 

Keith was about to refused when Shiro immediately agreed. He looked to his brother with surprise. Shiro looked back at him with a grin. 

In Japanese he said: 

“Hey Keith, does lance know you have a crush on him?” Shiro teased. Keith gasped almost responding in English as he looked over to Lance. Lance looked clueless, obviously not understanding but trying really hard to read the conversation. 

“No... he doesn’t.” Keith replied shyly. Shiro laughed. 

“Don’t you think it's funny he will never know what you say right now?” He hinted; Keith realised what he was doing. Lance had inadvertently allowed Keith a moment to confess his feeling without Lance even realising, he glanced to Lance, still clueless. 

“I know right, he’ll never know that I.. find him really cute. Or that I’m really jealous of Allura. He’ll never know that I think his eyes are more pretty than the sky on the clearest day and he will never know that I think his freckles are the most beautiful thing on the planet.” 

Shiro watched Keith speak from the heart, trying not to let his sympathetic smile shine through for Lance to see. 

“You never Keith, he might not be straight.” Shiro repeated his words form last time they spoke about this. “Why don’t we ask him ey?” Shiro turned to Lance with a wide smile. “Hey lance.” 

Lance looked a deer caught in the headlights, he looked at Shiro wide eyed. 

“Are you bisexual?” Shiro asked with a smile. 

Lance didn’t respond, he kept stopping himself from speaking. 

“Well... Are you bisexual Lance?” Shiro asked again 

Lance thought for second, probably trying to figure out what the conversation was about. “Yes!” He said confidently. 

Shiro stopped a laugh from leaving his lips, letting out a tut instead. He turned to Keith placing a hand on his shoulder he said “See Keith, I told you your gaydar wasn’t good!” 

Shiro turned back to Lance, “okay, what did we say?” 

Keith grew nervous, Lance had just come out as bisexual and not even realised. Ignoring the way, it made his stomach to flips, Keith held back a laugh too. Lance thought again: 

“Well, you asked Keith a question then Keith replied then yous aid something else then Keith spoke for a little longer. Then you spoke a little more and then you asked me something.... hmmm” Lance began to laugh to himself. 

“Well? What did we say?” 

“It kind of awkward but I think you asked Keith what he was doing the other night.” Lance pointed from Shiro to Keith. “Keith didn’t want to tell you... but you insisted and then he told you about how he dressed up like an emo boy like he used to dress in high school...” Keith held back interrupting. “Then Shiro probably said something very kind and encouraging like ‘its okay if you want to be emo again Keith’” he imitated Shiro’s voice. “Then you asked me if I support Keith becoming emo again and I said yes! Because I do.” 

Shiro laughed “Damn Lance! You are almost spot on!” 

Lance smiled back “Aha! Yeah! I knew I was great at reading people!” he looked so proud. Shiro patted him on the shoulder congratulating him. 

Lance’s Mama then yelled him from the porch and he rushed out of the car, thanking Shiro and winking at Keith after encouraging him to go emo again. He ran up to his Mama receiving a big hug before she waved to Keith and Shiro from the car. When both Lance and his Mama had gone inside they burst into laughter. 

Shiro sighed, looking back to Keith. “Did that feel good?” 

Keith relaxed into his seat again, he did feel like a big weight had been lifted off his chest somehow. He knew that in reality nothing would change but Keith got a chance to share his feeling with Lance without it hurting their friendship and Lance was clueless to what was actually said. “It did actually, it felt really good.” 

\---------------------------------- 

The next month passed by quicker than Keith had thought, he got back into his college routine and met Pidge and Lance after college sometimes. He even saw Hunk a few times as well when they hung out in groups. He told Pidge about the Japanese confession which Pidge found hilarious, she insisted on details but he refused to share. 

But not every day was perfect, his heart would still ache some days. Mostly on days where he saw Lance and Allura together, they were doing really well. He had met her Dad and he went round to her house at least once every week. But he didn’t mention a lot more than that, which was strange for Lance. Keith felt like it was a tease in a strange sort of way. He had expected details on what was happening between Lance and Allura and with how close they had gotten over the few weeks they had been together it was weird for Lance to be so quiet. Keith had planned to use these details to help him move on from Lance, facing the music and letting Lance be happy. But since lance had been so quiet, he didn’t have that extra push to help him. 

So, some nights Keith shed a tear or two, sometimes he called Pidge and let his heart out to her. She listened closely but didn’t have much to respond with. They both knew Lance was happy they had seen it time and again when they hung out as a group, Allura made Lance so happy. The amount of times Keith had cried to Pidge about wanting to be the person who made Lance that happy was more than he was willing to admit. 

Things didn’t change though, not noticeably at least. Allura was beginning to become a regular in their friend group, hanging out with them after college or meeting on the weekends. She became one of the boys. Keith like her, he really did. She was sweet and smiley and had a funny accent, she taught him how to do eyeliner and how to curly his hair at the ends to give it extra poof. Keith just couldn’t get over the fact that she had Lance. 

One day after waving Lance and Allura goodbye as they got picked up by Allura's assistant there was a strange silence. It was like Hunk, Pidge and Keith all wanted to say something but didn’t know how to approach it. They could all feel the tension in the air, Keith was about to break it when: 

“Okay I’m sorry but I have to get this off my chest. There's something off about Allura right??” Hunk busted. 

“Yes!! Oh my god. I thought I was the only one” Pidge responded. 

“Right!! Like she's an amazing person but there's moments when the shell breaks and she just seems off” Hunk said. 

After this group realisation they decided to return to the café where Keith had first met Allura, Keith assumes it was an accident but it was all coming back full circle in his mind. He peered over the menu; the skittles drink sounded good but he could forget the sour taste it left him with last time. Pidge and Hunk were still talking about Allura trying to decipher what was up with her. 

“Didn’t you say a while ago that she seemed off all the time Hunk?” Keith asked, adding himself to the conversation. 

“Yeah but that faded and she began to acted differently, like she was more comfortable.” Hunk responded. “I’m surprised you remember that to be honest” 

“Oh, um I don’t know I just remembered it now.” he lied. That statement had been on his mind since Hunk had first said it, it confused Keith beyond words. Lance had liked Allura for so long it was upsetting to see the red flags with her, she had never shown interest in him before then suddenly they were dating and she was acting weird according to Hunk. “Maybe it was just nerves?” he offered weakly, he wanted Lance to be happy so he didn’t want to think about how Allura could secretly be pretending to like him. 

“No. She's usually really confident, you saw her with her old friend group. Which thinking about it, it's strange how she suddenly just left those guys for us.” Pidge mentioned while looking across the café menu. 

“I don’t think they had a falling out, just sounds like she started hanging out with them less and less.” Hunk added. “She tends to watch you a lot Keith.” 

“Yeah I noticed that too.” 

“Wait really?” Keith suddenly felt under a spotlight. Both and Hunk and Pidge nodded as if it was common knowledge. 

“Maybe she ships you.” Pidge said quietly, Hunk nodded. Keith’s cheeks tinted pink; he didn’t reply just hid his face in the menu. 

They ordered their drinks, much cheaper less extravagant drinks this time. Keith got a hot chocolate, Pidge got a coffee and Hunk got an ice tea. The sat talking as they drank: 

“She’s really sweet like don’t get me wrong. But there's just moments where it feels like she's...” Hunk couldn’t find the word. 

“Distant” Keith finished. 

“Exactly” Hunk pointed to Keith in agreement and Pidge nodded while looking from Hunk to Keith and sipping her coffee. 

“Maybe one of us should ask Lance about it? Hunk?” Pidge said. 

“I’ve tried he just acts strange. Usually he tells me all the details but he’s been really closed off about it this time.” 

“Same its weird for Lance.” Keith agreed. 

They chatted more about it. They all agreed that Allura did act distant at times, she watched Keith while he wasn’t looking and she had suddenly cut off her other friends. Lance had been uncharacteristically quiet about his relationship despite how well it looked like it was going. They were stuck, they didn’t know how to approach Lance about it, Hunk and Keith both knew that when Lance didn’t talk about something, he didn’t want to talk about it. In the end they agreed to approach lance as a group the next time they hung out to casually ask him about his plans for Valentine's day as it was coming up. 

Keith would be lying if he said he was nervous. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Pidge: 

00:21: Oh! Btw here's this for your secret collection 

Attached was a set of images from the New Year's celebration, all of Lance. Some of him smiling or laughing, his cheeks becoming a deeper red throughout the night. Some were of Keith and Lance together, there was the classic picture Pidge had approached him with at the park. 

There was another of Lance giving Keith a piggy back, his arms wrapped around Keith's thighs. Keith had his arms stretched over Lance’s shoulder as he smiled into Lance’s neck. Keith was angry he couldn’t remember it but it felt nice to see that it was him making Lance smile that wide even if theyw ere both too drunk to remember it. 

00:25: ...Thanks 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Eventually the day came when it was just the four of them, they were chilling at Pidge’s apartment after college. Hunk and Pidge were playing local coop mode on Voltron while Keith taught Hunk how to play and Lance watched from Pidges bed. Lance was lay at the far end near the headboard and Keth sat with his legs crossed on the end of the bed just behind Hunk, Lance kept tapping Keith with his feet. 

“So, Lance, Valentine's day is coming up. Got any plans?” Pidge asked without taking her eyes off the screen. Hunk and Keith recognised the swift transition. Keith looked back to Lance; he was grinning hand in the shape of a finger gun underneath his chin. 

“Yep! I’m taking her to a nice restaurant” he said proudly. 

This had them stumped, they hadn't expected him to hesitate or mention something feeling wrong but he didn’t. He spoke with such confidence, Keith wasn't surprised, of course he ahd something planned. 

“Oh, so is everything going good between you and her?” Hunk asked casually, not looking away from the screen and immediately asking Keith to show him the control for the game again. 

Lance had frozen, he looked less confident, his face had changed to a confused expression. He didn’t look confused at the question he looked like he was in deep in his own thought confused or lost on whatever he was thinking about. Lance had a tendency to lose himself in his thought sometimes. 

“Lance?” Keith looked back, calling Lance from his own thoughts. 

“Oh, um yeah things are going fine.” he didn’t sound confident. 

“You don’t sound confident” Hunk commented. 

Lance leaned his head back to look at the ceiling, he stopped tapping his foot against Keith. He sighed loudly Hunk and Keith knew what was coming next. They had gotten the wheel turning: 

“I don’t know, I guess it’s because I’ve never had a relationship before? Things are going well? She’s really nice and we have some good laughs but.... Sometimes it feels like we are just friends.” 

Bingo. Lance was clingy, affectionate and, if Keith was being honest, insecure. Lance needed security in a relationship and lots of love, that’s why he was so clingy. He had been brought up in a very affectionate family so when people he cared about or felt close to weren’t affectionate back or were distant, he felt insecure. That’s why Keith let Lance tap his feet on his back or hug him when he needed or hold his hand on a scary car ride, Lance would act like it was just for the other person but in reality Lance probably needed it more. 

“Like. I- We- Sorry I’m trying to think of the right words.” Lance stuttered. 

“Don’t be afraid of sharing Lance, we are cool with as much detail as you want to share.” Hunk said. 

After a moment Lance sighed and began again: 

“She doesn’t kiss me, or hug me and we haven’t gotten past making out yet. Which I don’t mind you know? Like if she isn’t comfortable going further that’s fine, but she never even wants to kiss me. I’m pretty sure I can count the amount of times we’ve kissed on my hands.” Lance sounded hurt which hurt Keith. 

But Keith felt a stronger emotion towards Allura. She was selfish, inconsiderate. She had Lance there, and he wanted to kiss her and hug her and.... His mind wandered. How could she not see that Lance was upset over this. Of course, if she wasn’t ready to have sex that’s fine but she hasn’t expressed any romantic affection from the sounds of it. 

“I really like her but it feels like she doesn’t like me back.” Lance held himself and lower his head tilting it into his shoulder. His eyes were tearful, they held so much emotion. Lance’s frown was the worst though, his bottom lip didn’t pout like it did when Lance pretended to be sad, his face just froze and his eyes held in his emotions. His usually bright blue eyes had darkened like a storm. 

Keith watched Lance from over his shoulder, he wanted to reach out and hug him but he was holding himself back. He watched lance blink away the emotion, holding it in. Seeing him do that made Keith want to let lance cry on his shoulder for hours as they lay in bed together then Keith could cuddle him till he fell asleep making him feel so safe and secure. Keith's heart ached. 

“That's why I’m gonna take her somewhere great for Valentine's day. So, she knows I’m here and she can see how much I care.” he forced a smile. Keith couldn’t help but smile, Lance was so selfless and loving. Allura was so selfish, having Lance all to herself and making him feel this way. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------- 

Pidge, Hunk and Keith had been on a voice call, playing Voltron together for a few hours. They had managed to pass the level they had been stuck on but that just meant they were stuck on the level after that. Hunk had bought Voltron with some left-over money from his Birthday, he was waiting for the game to install so he could set up his character. 

“What are you guys doing for Valentines?” Pidge asked in-between swears and threatens towards the alien enemies in the game. 

“Nothing, Shay is working so I’m free.” Keith had expected Hunk to be busy with Shay. 

“I’m not doing anything either.” 

“Great. Wanna play Voltron till the sun comes up. Single gang. And Hunk.” Pidge joked. Everyone laughed and agreed. Keith had nothing better to do, sadly. 

“How do you think Lance’s date will go?” he asked without thinking. 

Pidge and Hunk both hesitated to speak. Pidge knew it was for the best if she didn’t let his imagination go crazy as he’d drive himself mad. 

“I think it’ll go good.” she said. Hunk agreed. They didn't say any more than that, Hunk quickly changed the subject to character customisation in Voltron. 

“Finally, it installed oh my god!” 

\---------------------------------------------------------------- 

Keith spent the days leading up to Valentine's day with the Single gang (and Hunk), which Pidge had dubbed their official name. Mostly playing Voltron, training Hunk for the big day. 

He thought about Lance a lot, lance had been pretty quiet. Keith thought maybe the whole thing with Allura was affecting him more than he was letting on. He still rung Lance some nights, it helped him fall asleep and Lance didn’t mind the company. 

They would talk for hours about the most random stuff; shows they had watched or their days. They never mentioned anyone else, it was just them. It was intimate to Keith, a time for just him and Lance where no one else came up and no one else was listening. Keith had tried to not meet Lance alone since New Year's purely so he could try moving on but the phone calls didn’t help. The entire time Keith would cuddle into a pillow with the phone placed perfectly on top so it felt like it was Lance talking to him, in person and they were cuddling. It was bad and Keith shouldn’t have bene doing it, but he didn’t care. 

“What are you doing for Valentines Keith?” 

“I’m playing Voltron with Pidge and Hunk; we’ve been training him so we can beat the level together. Go to the next step if you know what I mean” 

“ahah I’ve never heard someone talk about beating a level in a game as though they were gonna fuck!” Lance laughed sounded slightly offended that Keith had put that image in his head. 

Keith laughed making a gross hum into the mic that fuckboys make. Lance laughed harder. 

“Why don’t you get some random players online though? It would be easier with more players, right?” 

“You think so but no! They have no strategy and don’t listen to us!” 

Lance laughed again; he didn’t play Voltron as much as the others so he didn’t get the jokes most of the time. Keith smiled widely in the darkness of his room. The only light coming from his phone. The way was lay made it feel like Lance was right next to him, he felt so comfortable. 

He just wished Lance was really here with him. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------- 

Lance: 

18:09: Big date tomorrow. You nervous? 

18:11: aha a little ngl 

18:11: but it should be fun 

18:15 ring me if anything goes wrong :] the restaurant isn't too far from my house if you need saving 

18:18: aha youre joking right? Its like a 40 min run! 

18:19: 40 min walk/20 min run :} 

18:20: lol okay, thank buddy :} 

18:21: :} 

18:21: :} 

18:24: So how was college? 

\---------------------------------------------------------------- 

Valentine's day dragged, he spent it in college. His schedule didn’t match up with anyone else's that day so he spent most of the day alone, he debated skipping his last class to go home since Pidge and Hunk finished earlier than him so they would already be on Voltron. But he didn’t, he knew that lance finished the same time as him so there was a tiny chance of seeing him on his way home. 

“Hey Keith!” Lance waved as he ran over. 

“Hey Lance, what's up?” Keith replied, acting as if it was a coincidence that they ran into each other. Smirking to himself at his ‘perfect timing.’ 

“Would it be cool if I come over to yours to change, coach said he would leave the changing rooms open for me but he must’ve forgotten.” 

Keith was slightly hurt by being used like that but shrugged it off. “yeah sure” 

Lance got changed in Keith's room as Keith sat outside the door. Lance was talking to him through the door about how excited he was and in the other room he could hear Shiro getting ready for his date with Adam. 

They both stepped out at the same time, Shiro in a full suit and tie and Lance in a smart casual outfit. He wore black jeans with a button up shirt tucked in and the sleeves rolled up, it made Keith face feel hot and made his heart melt. 

“How do I look?” Lance asked. 

“G-Great!” Keith said, trying to hold back his enthusiasm. 

“How do I look?” Shiro asked, half joking. 

“Great!” Lance and Keith said in unison. 

Keith felt so underdressed, he just wore his usual black skinny jeans with a black tee and a jacket and zip up hoodie. Although to be honest it wasn’t like he was going anywhere special. 

He waved both boys goodbye, Shiro driving away and Lance walking in the opposite direction towards the restaurant with flowers in hand he wore a nervous smile. 

Keith retreated to his desk, joining Pidge and Hunk and officially starting Single Gang valentine's day Voltron battle! 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“There's two on your left Hunk!” Keith shouted through his mic. The battle was tense, the level had taken an unexpected turn and they were playing in an environment none of their characters had advantage in. But they were doing well considering the setbacks, adding Hunk definitely improved their strategy, Hunk was still a little rusty but he was a massive help overall. 

Keith’s desk began to vibrate ever so slightly. Keith glanced down at his phone; Lance was calling. He thought about calling him back in a minute since they were so close but then his words from yesterday haunted him, ‘ring me if anything goes wrong.’ Lance was ringing him, why wasn’t he picking up? 

“Sorry guys two mins” he answered quickly before Pidge could argue. 

“Lance?” he answered gently. 

“Hey Keith um.” lance’s voice trembled. “So, she never showed up.” he was trying to laugh about it but it came out so pained. 

“Are you still at the restaurant?” Keith’s blood began to boil, how dare she do that to Lance. He was so nervous about this night. 

“yeah aha” he said weakly. 

“wait there ill be ten minutes” he hung up before Lance could reply. 

“Guys I-” 

“we heard. Go its okay Keith, he needs you” they both agreed. 

With that Keith set off running, his lungs burning but he could stop. Lance was waiting


	3. The Argument

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter is a little shorter!!  
> its a bit angsty so I thought it best I leave you on a cliffhanger again :3
> 
> Thanks for all the love and support

Keith's lungs burnt he had never pushed himself this hard. He was running as fast as he could towards the restaurant where lance was. He sounded so sad, like he was going to cry and Keith was not going to let Lance cry. So, he ran as fast as his legs would allow, he felt like he was flying he was going so fast. The momentum he had built up meant that he wouldn’t be able to stop easily but his muscle were aching, at this point if he stopped he would be stuck walking so he may as well run until his legs gave out. 

He could see Lance in the distance and he ran a little faster. Lance was sat on the bench right outside the restaurant still holding the flowers he had when he had left Keith's. It had been about an hour and a half since then, Lance must have been waiting so long. Lance saw him approaching and stood up. 

“Keith.” his voice sounded pained. 

Keith slowed down stopping a few steps away from lance and immediately resting his hands on his knees to catch his breath, his adrenaline was soaring. He could barely speak; his throat was so dry from running. 

“Lan-” he coughed and gasped for breath. He composed himself approached Lance. Lance opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by a tight embrace from Keith. Lance was shocked at first but after a moment he held onto Keith. The height difference between them meant Keith had to stand on his toes to let Lance rest his head in the crook of Keith's neck but he did it despite his muscle aching for him to rest. 

The just stood there for a minute or two embracing each other, Keith was breathing heavily but trying desperately to not give out. Lance held him so tightly, his arms wrapped around his waist and his hands gripping the side of Keith’s unzipped hoodie. Keith didn’t grab a jacket on the way out he just left without a second thought. It sounded like Lance wanted to cry but he couldn’t bring himself to. 

“Thank you, Keith.” he gripped his hoodie a little tighter. 

Eventually they released each other but Lance still held onto Keith’s waist and Keith kept his arms rested on Lance’s shoulder. His breathing had calmed but his lungs still burned like hell. 

“She- she didn’t come Keith.” Lance cried. “She doesn’t care about me. No one-” 

“Stop right there Lance. I care! I’m here aren’t I?” Keith said with a strain in his voice. 

“Yeah but-” 

“But what?” 

“You only came because I called you. You wouldn’t be here if I didn’t call you.” 

“That's why I asked you to ring me if anything happened!” The tone was quickly changing. Both boys were angry for different reasons and they had no outlet. Allura had ditched Lance on Valentine's day which made Lance feel like no one cared about him which made Keith incredibly angry at Allura. 

“I bet you only came because I sounded upset. A guilt thing you know.” 

Keith unwrapped his arms from Lances neck, clenching his hands into fists at his sides. “Stop, I came because I care Lance” 

“Do you?” Lance glared at Keith with raw emotion. Disappointment, sadness hatred? Keith couldn’t tell. “Where have you been the last few months Keith? You've been so distant. You only came now because I sounded sad.” 

“What? No! I-” 

“Lance!” Keith was cut off by a voice behind him, Allura was stood in a dress her hair in messy bun and no makeup. Great, just what Keith needed. 

“You’ve been so distant what's up with you. Is it her? You’ve been acting weird ever since she came into the mix.” lance continued, Keith turned back to look at Lance. “You don’t care about me, no one does. You only came because I sounded upset” 

Keith still had adrenaline coursing through him from the run, along with anger and sudden accusations everything built up at once. He remembered waking up that day and admiring Lance, being supportive of him and Allura despite keeping his distance. He kept his feelings to himself despite how much it hurt and it hurt so so much. He thought about the nights he spent crying on his own or to Pidge, the forced smiles he had put on to hide the jealousy he had towards her. 

He cracked. 

“Fuck you Lance! Fuck you!” He pointed an accusing finger at Lance, his body was running on pure anger now. “You think I don’t care who came running when YOU got ditched on Valentine's day” Keith to walk or run or move, his body was too still if he didn’t move, he was going to hit someone or something. He turned his back to Lance, storming off past Allura. 

“You didn’t have to come.” she said quietly to him. 

“FUCK OFF ALLURA!” He turned towards her making clear eye contact with her, she was a little taller than him but only slightly meaning their eyes were at the same level. “Do you realise what you have?! You have the best fucking guy in the world and you do nothing and you treat him like shit! You’re a selfish inconsiderate bitch! Who can't see that she has the perfect guy in the palm of her hand? Are you kidding me! He looks at you like you made the stars in sky. How can you not see that? He would treat like you're his world if you would let him!” His words started off as angry shouts but turned into pained yelling as he continued. “Lance is the best fucking guy you could ever ask for and you are lucky to have him.” he looked over to Lance, he would probably regret those words tomorrow but he didn’t now. “Don’t waste this chance to be with him.” Allura studied his face, she didn’t respond and Keith just started walking again. 

His walking quickly turned into running; his body was screaming at him to run as fast as he could while also aching tremendously. He ran as fast as he could again but this time, he had nothing to run for and his body gave out.He hit the pavement falling onto his hands and knees but they gave out too so his jaw scraped against the edge of the pavement onto the road. He was a few roads away from where lance and Allura were so he just lay in the road for a minute, he lay there panting letting the anger dissipate. When his anger was gone, he was just left with sadness and regret so he just started crying. 

He held his hands up to his eyes to wipe away the tears. The palms of his hands were stinging from the fall and he had definitely torn his pants and maybe his hoodie too, he wasn’t sure. His body went numb a while ago and the feeling was starting to come back to him. 

It had started to rain by the time he got home. Kosmo greeted him at the door and by the sounds of it Shiro and Adam weren’t home yet. Keith was alone, he could see himself now, wet from the rain, ripped jeans with scuffed knees. Luckily, he hadn’t ripped his hoodie sleeves too bad and it was still wearable. If Keith was being honest, he would still wear the jeans they would just be seen as stylish ripped jeans instead. He laughed at his jeans and how he really was falling back into an emo boy like Lance said. 

Keith stood up from his position on the floor, he had a slight sting in his cheek from where he faceplanted the road. He was so happy no one had seen him, he felt kind of tired probably from all the sudden running. His vision went blurry and he stood unsteadily in his hallway, Kosmo watched him worryingly. His doorbell rang and he wandered over to the door. Opening it he was greeted by Pidge: 

“Hey Keith are you o- OH my god Keith what happened?!” Her voice suddenly sounded incredibly worried as she looked at Keith. 

“What I’m fine.” 

“You’re bleeding.” Keith’s vision went blurry again and he lost balance “Keith oh god wait-” He blacked out. 

When Keith came to, he was in the back of an ambulance, Pidge and Hunk sat in there with him. Pidge on the phone with someone and Hunk noticed Keith. 

“Keith! Are you okay? You passed out.” 

The paramedic came over to greet him, he repeated the same thing Hunk had said. Keith had passed out and he had a massive gash on the side of his cheek, he was most likely going to need stitches. Shit, Pidge was probably on the phone to Shiro. 

“Don-” 

“Don’t speak, you wound is still bleeding and could possibly get worse if you move your jaw too much” The paramedic asked and Keith complied. 

Hunk passed him a phone with notepad open. 

Keith just typed “sorry” 

Shiro and Adam met them at the hospital. He received some stitches and Shiro and Adam discussed aftercare with the doctor. While waiting Keith typed out what happened on the notepad on Hunks phone. 

“I met lance but he was upset and said I didn’t care. Allura arrived and I may have screamed at her too. Don’t tell lance I’m here, he will blame himself” 

“He should blame himself!” Pidge argued, “You were so nice to run all the way there to see him and he didn’t even thank you” 

Hunk nodded in agreement. “It was really rude of Lance to do that. I mean look where you ended up.” 

Keith shook his head and began typing: 

“No he was just upset and I have been distant with him so he wasn’t totally wrong.” 

Pidge read the messaged and sighed “But...” 

The doctors then re-entered with Shiro and Adam. They explained that Keith was probably going to have a scar from the cut and the stitches would take about a month to heal due to the size and depth of the cut. Keith was recommended to stay off school for a few weeks and keep talking to a minimum for the first week so his cut could heal. He should also avoid opening his jaw too far for a while too. Adam had spoken to the doctor and had been advised on some aftercare he could help Keith with at home. 

Hunk and Pidge were given a lift back to Keith's where they had left Hunks car but they didn't stay over Keith obviously wanted to be alone. When Keith got back home he thanked Shiro and Adam, apologising for ruining their night and then stayed in his room. 

Keith hadn’t checked his phone since Lance had rung him hours ago, he had a few missed calls off Pidge along with some texts. A check-up text off Shiro and that was it, Lance hadn’t contacted him at all. 

\------------------------------------------------------------ 

Keith followed Doctor’s orders and stayed home from college; he did most of his work at home but Shiro insisted he rest. His face was sore, every morning and night Adam would clean his wound and check-up on the stitches, they were healing nicely according to him. He stayed off his computer and just watched a lot of romantic movies, Love Simon and Call Me By Your Name mostly. Keith felt like wallowing in his own self-pity right now. 

Pidge and Hunk texted him a lot throughout the first week, checking up on, chatting and just keeping the mood light. Shay even text him a few times in Korean so he started practising Korean again. Keith couldn’t but think about what Lance had said, did Lance really think he didn’t care? He cared so much, maybe distancing himself wasn’t the right move, but it's not like he could take it back now. 

After a week Lance texted him: 

Lance: 

21:59: Hey I heard you got hurt and youre stuck at home. Hope you’re feeling alright. Text me, I think we need to talk. 

Keith didn’t see the message until the next morning, turns out being stuck in bed all day being sad makes you really tired. But he didn’t reply, mainly because he didn’t know what to say but also because as his wound started to heal, he also started to remember what he had said to Allura and the enraged haze. 

Lance deserved better and Lance couldn’t see that Keith was there for him and quite frankly, Lance had really hurt Keith. He didn’t blame Lance for the scar but he did want to ignore Lance for a while. It was petty, yeah but Keith was hurt and didn’t care. Lance had Allura and like he had said Keith didn’t care. 

After a week and a half Lance called but Keith didn’t pick up, he didn’t feel like talking. Pidge had told him that Lance came asking about Keith to her, she had lied and said some crazy dude had jumped Keith and that how he had gotten the cut. She didn’t mention the stitches or where the cut was, she just made it clear to Lance that Keith had gotten hurt sometime after their argument. 

Pidge: 

19:09: yeah he asked about you, seemed pretty worried even though he tried to hide it. 

19:09: What did you say 

19:19: said that you were still healing and probably tired which is why you haven’t called or texted him back 

19:20: he does seem pretty worried though. 

Keith sighed. He was sat on the kitchen counter as Adam checked his stitches, his tongue peeking out through his lip and his glasses hanging on the edge of his nose. Keith thought it would probably be funny to have Adam as your doctor. 

“What did Pidge say?” he asked, watching his hands as he gently tapped Keith's stitches with Vaseline. The doctor had advised not using rubbing alcohol as it slows down the healing process, Keith didn’t mind the Vaseline stung less. 

“That Lance is worried.” Keith responded. Adam replied with an amused hum before placing a plaster over the stitches. Shiro stood next to Adam looking at the stitches as Adam placed a plaster over them. 

“How are his stitches?” Shiro asked. 

“They’re healing well, the scar will be gnarly too” he joked while taking off his medical gloves. Keith huffed out a laugh trying not to smile. There was a knock at the door so Shiro wandered over to answer. 

“Will the scar be bad?” Keith asked, watching Shiro walk towards the front door and out of sight. Adam shook his head with furrowed brows and a simple smile. 

“No, it will be cool” he pointed to his own cheek, “it will go from here to about here on you jaw” he dragged his finger down from his cheekbone to the edge of his jaw. “It will probably be wider near the jaw bone looking at the stitches.” 

“So it will be big?” 

“Ehh, yeah? But I’ve seen bigger.” Adam was referring to Shiro's scar that went from the outer corner of one eye across his nose to his other eye. “Not to mention you still a have all your limbs” Adam joked. They tried to keep the mood light when talking about Shiro’s accident, it had caused a lot of stress so they avoided serious topics about it. 

Shiro had gotten hit by a drunk driver during his time trying to adopt Keith, it set him back a long time and he went through a lot of rehab to get where he is today. Because of Shiro’s accident he had to take months off work and put pretty much everything on hold. That included Keith, even though he refused to abandon him, social services refused to discuss adopting Keith with Shiro until he was in better shape. It caused Keith to have to spend another year or two in the foster care system, Shiro had kept in close contact with Keith so he and Keith bonded a lot. 

“But hey, maybe a cute doctor in training will find you so attractive he sneaks you his number” Adam offered, another reference to how him and Shiro had met. 

Adam was just putting away his medical kit when Shiro came sliding back into the kitchen, his face was a mix of shock and excitement. “Lance is at the door!” 

Keith flushed red; Lance actually came to his house after school hours after being ignored for a week. Adams mouth was now the shape of a o with a slight grin, he awed at Lance’s act of kindness. Keith was really happy Lance had come but he panicked, he was a mess in my sweats not having showered for a week. 

“Dont- Um. Tell him I’m asleep or I’m not feeling good” 

“What you don’t want to see him?” Shiro asked sounding confused. Keith shook his head violently. 

Shiro shrugged walking back over to the front door, Keith followed peeking from behind the wall of the kitchen that led into the hallway where Shiro was. Shiro opened the door slightly. Keith couldn’t see Lance’s face, just his shoulder and arms. 

“He’s asleep right now Lance. You’ll have to come back later, sorry” 

“oh, um okay.” Lance sounded disappointed. “Could you give him these then and tell him to call me when he can or text. Anything!” he offered. Keith couldn’t see what Shiro had been given but Shiro had to reach out to grab them. “Thanks, Shiro.” Lance left. 

Keith and Adam left their peeking spot and approached Shiro. Shiro turned with two drinks in his hand. They were takeout drinks from the café they had been to. One Oreo and one skittle milkshake. Keith's heart melted; it was a really sweet gesture. Shiro handed him an envelope too. 

Keith took the two drinks back to his room, having the Oreo then the Skittles one. Inside the envelope was a Get Well Soon card all of Lances sibling, his Mama and Papa and his Abuela had all signed it. Keith’s eyes went teary and he smiled at the small drawing his siblings at drawn all over the card. 

Lance: 

19:43: I left some stuff with Shiro for you when you wake up 

19:44: message me when you can, hope you are feeling better <3 

Keith typed out a few messages before deciding not to, he still needed space or time or something. He wasn’t sure, he knew he missed Lance but he was scared of talking to him. He didn’t know what had happened to Lance and Allura or if Lance had caught on to some of the things, he said to Allura. 

He didn’t sleep well that night, he tossed and turned thinking about Lance. He didn’t want space, he wanted Lance to hold him. He was in a lot of pain, his stitches still hurt and he couldn’t touch his face or wash it. He just wanted Lance to come and do some skincare on him or watch a cheesy film with him, just be near Keith. 

Lance: 

9:21: Hey sorry about missing you yesterday. Thanks for the drinks and the card too. I’m still pretty rough but you could come over in like a week when I look a lil better? 

9:25: yeah sure 

9:27: Could I call you? I miss you 

9:28: okay 

Lance rang him immediately and he picked up immediately. 

There was silence for a minute. 

“Keith?” Lance sounded happy. 

“Hey Lance.” Keith couldn’t hold back a smile, his cheeks blushed with excitement. 

“Hey.” He sounded relieved, “I’m really glad you’re okay look um-” 

“Um, can we not talk about it over the phone. I’d rather talk in person about um... everything. Can we just talk as if nothing happened for now? Is that cool with you?” 

“Oh uh yeah that’s good with me.” 

“Okay” Keith bit his bottom lip as he smiled. It was nice to hear lances voice again 

Lance told him about his day so far and what classes he had. Keith just listened; Lances voice was soothing. It probably wasn’t best to ignore everything and just talk as if it didn’t happen but Keith was scared of that conversation. That conversation could lead to another argument or to something completely different. Keith wanted one normal moment with Lance before confronting him.


	4. The Talk / Bonding moments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay hello again, thanks for all the support so far :) its really motivating me to keep writing
> 
> this chapter has a serious talk at the start and then some fluff time skips stories.  
> :)  
> pretty much idk what to add in between two important moments so its all just fluff lol
> 
> ENJOY!!

While healing Keith, Adam and Shiro celebrated Shiro’s birthday. The sun was shining brightly that day and Adam and Keith surprised Shiro with a picnic at the park near their apartment. Adam and Keith had baked a cake for Shiro and bought a bunch of treats, putting them in a basket like a classic picnic. Shiro was a man of simple things, so this surprise was perfect for him, he teared up a little but fought through it and enjoyed his day with them. 

Kosmo ran around the field all day occasionally begging for a treat or attempting to sneak a bite of the cake. They would shoo him away but a minute later cuddle him tightly, giving him a chance to snatch a biscuit or sandwich. 

After they were done eating, they played and chased Kosmo and Adam brought a frisbee for them to throw around. It was a really fun day; it gave Keith a break from the stress and anticipation of meeting Lance in a few days. 

The sun eventually set and the three of them started walking back to their apartment, Keith departed from them at a crossroads. “I’m going to Pidge’s for a few hours” he said innocently, but when Shiro looked away he winked at Adam who smiled holding back laughter Keith was giving them a chance to have some awesome birthday sex, he knew they had planned on having a fun night on Valentine's day but since Keith ended up in A&E he thought he might as well give them one night alone. 

Pidge and Keith played Voltron and watched a cheesy horror film they both liked. It was over the top and not scary at all but Keith loved picking apart horror films. Keith had always been obsessed with horror and scary things. He remembers his dad saying that he was supposed to be born near the start of October but baby Keith stayed in his Mum for as long as possible so he could be born on Halloween. 

Keith didn’t deny it, even in the womb he probably loved Halloween. It was his favourite holiday and time of year, he gets to dress all goth and no one bats and eye. 

“Lance is coming round tomorrow. He came round with milkshakes the other day and he is really worried like you said.” Keith mentioned while watching the blonde girl in the horror movie run through the house aimlessly being chased by a killer. 

Pidge looked over him, “You’re blushing.” she smirked. 

“yeah aha. I mean I think he knows.” 

“Really?” Pidge sounded surprised, “He is pretty clueless to this sort of stuff. Are you sure?” 

“No but I can hope, he did a really sweet thing by bringing round those drinks and he wanted Shiro to make sure I knew he was thinking about me.” Keith took a deep breathe in and smiled. “It was nice.” 

Pidge hummed in response looking back to the film. “Just don’t get your hopes up too high. I don’t want him hurting you any more” 

Keith nodded. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Keith’s wounds were healing well, his stitches were due to come out in just over a week and the scrapes on his hands and knees had scabbed over. He tried his best to pick at them but since he was home, he mostly just wore large hoodies and shorts so the temptation was there. He got told off a lot when he was younger for messing with his scabs, usually by his Dad since his Mum wasn’t around a lot. 

The Doctor’s had recommended that Keith avoid showering as often so that shampoo didn’t reach the stitches and infect them, so Keith kept his hair in a bun with his bangs held back by a clip. He looked rough, it was embarrassing, if hadn’t looked like that the first night Lance came round he probably would’ve let him in. But there was no way Keith was going to have this serious talk with Lance looking the way he did. 

The night before lance came round Keith showered and washed the parts of his face that he could. He had Adam place a large bandage over the cut so Lance wouldn't be able to see the damage. Lance was supposed to come around at about 3pm, Shiro and Adam would still be at work at that time and gave both boys a chance to talk about everything with no one else around. Keith would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited. He hadn’t seen lance in ages and this conversation could change a lot of things for them. Keith had spoken from the heart that night and it looked like Lance had caught on to what he had said, hopefully Lance felt the same way? 

Pidge: 

13:37: Yo Lance is coming round today right? 

13:38: Yeah, we are gonna talk about everything 

13:40: Everything? 

13:41: Yep, I think he caught on to what I said to Allura on valentines day. So he’ll probably bring it up 

13:41: Oh ok. Good luck ig aha 

13:42: thx :] 

13:47: :] 

\--------------------------------------------------------- 

Keith had been waiting by the door for half an hour when Lance finally knocked. Keith paced back and forth for minute, checking himself in the mirror one more time. He was wearing a basic tee with long sweats on, he had tried a million different outfits on before this one. He needed to look casual and chill but not gross. His hair was tied into a bun since he still had to keep hair away from the wound, but since it was protected by the bandage he pulled out and styled his bangs so his face would look better. Allura had taught him how to style his hair so it framed his face nicer. 

He opened the door to greet Lance, Lance was wearing a normal outfit for him. Jeans with a baseball tee, blue jeans and a jacket to cover himself up if it rained. Secretly Lance kept a hoodie in his bag since the jacket was not enough to protect him from the elements but Lance was very dedicated to looking nice at all times. Keith noticed the small effort. Lance turned to face Keith; he had been looking out the window in the hallway of Keith's apartment building, the views weren't great from those windows. 

Lance wore a nervous smile; he was messing with the hair on the back of his head and his eyes lit up when he looked at Keith. 

“Hey.” he said quietly. 

Keith flushed pink, swallowing his nerves. “Hey” 

Both boys were nervous, Keith welcomed him in and Lance greeted Kosmo who was especially excited to see Lance. They wandered into the kitchen not saying much, Keith leaned against the kitchen counter turning his face so Lance didn’t notice the bandage taped to his face. 

“So um, where do you wanna talk?” Lance asked quietly, taking his eyes away and looking at Keith. 

“Um, we could just sit here or we could go to my room?” Keith offered; he hadn’t planned this part out. He had thought a lot about what he was going to say and how but he had forgotten to think about how he would start the talk. 

“Your room?” Lance asked. 

“Sure.” 

They both started walking back to Keith’s bedroom, Lance had noticed the bandage by now by had stayed silent until they sat down on Keith’s bed. 

Lance held his hands in his lap, messing with his fingers gently. Keith sat next to him, contemplating how to start the conversation. He had never done this before. Both boys sat in a tense silence, the air was thick around them and Keith had a lump in his throat but this time he was going to speak. 

“You look good” Lance said, pulling Keith from his thoughts. They made eye contact Lance was still wearing the nervous smile, his eyebrows raised in a friendly but cautious manner. 

“Thanks, the healing is going well.” 

There was another silence, they were both looking at each other. Why couldn’t he get his words out, it was so hard. It felt like there was a concrete wall Keith had to break through to be able to speak. It took everything in his body to say it: 

“About what I said that night-” 

“I really appreciate what you said Keith. It felt nice to be appreciated and I shouldn’t have said the things I said to you. You do care and I didn’t know why I couldn’t see it.” Lance began, he looked away from Keith and down at his hands. “It meant a lot to be appreciated and noticed” 

Oh fuck. 

“I should have realised it sooner.” 

Keith held his breath watching Lance closely. Lances cheeks had reddened, he wasn’t looking at Keith still just down at his lap. Keith could feel his heart beating in his chest, he had waited for a moment like this. A chance to tell Lance how he felt and lay it all out on the table. 

“Lance, I need to tell you I-” Keith spoke quietly but was cut off. 

“Me and Allura spoke.” Lance looked towards Keith now. Keith’s words froze in his throat. “What you said affected her too.” 

“I called an inconsiderate bitch...” 

Lance laughed, “Yeah. But... you also said a bunch of really nice things and it made her realise what she had been doing. How she had been hurting me.” 

Oh... 

“She promised to treat me better from now on. She explained what happened that night and how she had gotten caught up with a friend in need. We became a lot closer.” Lance smiled. Keith held back a frown. 

“So, you are still together?” 

“Yeah.” 

Fuck. 

Keith’s heart froze. He had hyped himself up for this moment, he had told himself that somehow Lance would have seen what he truly meant when he said all those things to Allura. Lance would then leave Allura and turn gay for Keith and they would live happily ever after. Lance would sleep over and they would cuddle and kiss in bed and they would hold hands while walking and Lance would kiss his scar to help it get better. 

How stupid of him to assume that. 

Keith blinked and forced a smile. “That's great. I was scared I had ruined your relationship.” He wished he did. 

“aha, no no. If anything helped us. We are a lot closer now” 

\------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Pidge: 

18:06: We talked. 

18:07: He’s still with Allura 

18:07: Don’t think he even realised how I felt about him :/ 

18:12: How are you feeling 

18:13: idk 

Pidge agreed to not talk about his feelings towards Lance anymore. She wouldn’t mention it, make jokes or anything about it unless Keith brought it up. Which he never did again. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Keith's heart had calloused. He was sick of hurting over Lance, he was done. He had to stop teasing himself and just get over Lance. There wasn’t going to be the happy ending he wanted, he was going to stay friends with Lance and Lance was going to be with Allura and get to kiss her and hold her hand and cuddle her in bed. He wasn’t going to cry anymore; he was tired of crying. He was going to toughen up, go to the gym more, work hard in college, get a job and most importantly, Keith was going to get over Lance. 

He got stitches taken out and started going back to college. The scar was just how Adam had described it, wide at his jaw and thinned into a point near his cheek bone. It was a light purple colour and stood out against his skin tone. He debated buying some makeup to cover it up but decided against it. His workload became larger, his exams were in late July so he had to start studying now. Lance claimed it was too soon but starting now meant he would have a solid 3 months to get his shit together. 

Keith also got a job, working in a bubble tea shop in the popular shopping centre in the city. The staff all assumed he couldn’t speak Japanese and would shout across to each other, sometimes complaints or secrets but Keith could understand all of it. But he decided to keep that information to himself for the time being. 

Shiro had begun taking him to the gym a lot more often too, Keith starting pushing himself a lot more. The gym was a stress releasing time for him, lift weights, don’t think then pass out in bed. It improved his sleeping and he began eating a lot more than before. His appetite had been lost while he was healing mainly because Shiro forced to eat soft foods for the first two weeks. 

Basically, Keith filled up all his spare time so there was no time to think about Lance. They still met up a lot more, Keith had agreed to be less distant ever since his and Lance’s talk. Things started to feel like how they did before New Year's, because before then Keith had ignored his feelings too. The 3 months he spent pining over Lance were over and he had to realise he was never going to have what he wanted to have with Lance. It sounded sad but Keith had become numb to the heart ache, the distraction helped him to ignore the sad thoughts too. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------- 

Pidge’s birthday was April 3rd. She didn’t want anything too big though, Hunk Lance and Keith came round to her house and they ordered takeout and played Voltron on her PlayStation. Matt had given her his two extra controllers so all four of them could play split screen Voltron together. They started off from the beginning on a new save though since Lance didn’t play it as much as the rest of them did. 

Lance's PC wasn’t good enough for the game and his older sister Veronica was a fan of the game but only played it on her Xbox and since she was so good Lance would feel outshined by her and refuse to play. But today he was trying to be a good sport. His tongue was peeking out his lips and his eyes were squinted concentrating on the screen. 

If Keith still had a crush on Lance, he would think it was adorable and gave him the urge to kiss Lance’s cheek. 

He picked up the game quickly and they got through a lot of levels before their food was delivered. They had agreed on a pizza but couldn’t decide on topping so they split it four ways describing a very awkward pizza layout while ordering it. ¼ mix of cheeses for Hunk, ¼ tomatoes, pepperoni and ham for Pidge, ¼ barbecue chicken for Keith and ¼ meat feast for Lance. The pizza place had done it well though, there were clear divides between each quarter and they all grabbed their respective sides. 

While eating they explained special moves and techniques to Lance, he looked a little confused but listened anyway. Hunk had picked up the game quickly and was pretty much an expert, Keith had played a lot of solo games while off from school with his stitches and Pidge thought the game was the best thing since sliced bread. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------- 

The seasons started to change, Keith no longer had to wear a jacket over his hoodie and Lance slowly stopped bringing his hoodie in his backpack every day to college. One day without realising Keith wore the hoodie that had torn on valentine's day to college. 

“Dude your sleeves are all torn.” Lance studied his hoodie sleeves, there were small holes on the lower arm sections from where Keith had tried to catch himself on the pavement. They weren't big and didn’t bother Keith unless a strong gust of wind past him. 

“Oh, uh yeah they got torn when I fell.” 

“Fell?” Allura asked, she was sat next to Lance across from Keith on the park bench they decided to have lunch together on. Him and Pidge met Lance and Allura in-between classes today and they usually got lunch together in the college canteen, but since it had been sunny they decided to go to a corner shop for lunch. 

“Yeah?” Keith questioned? 

“Yeah remember Keith, when you feel while that crazy dude jumped you.” Pidge interjected. Kicking Keith's shin from under the table. He had forgotten, Keith had been so embarrassed by his fall after screaming at Lance and Allura that they had lied to them both saying he got jumped a few days after Valentine's day. 

“Oh right...” Allura said, it sounded like she didn’t believe them. 

“I could sew the holes together for you. Abuela’s been teaching me cross stitching and I’m getting pretty good at it.” Lance looked up at Keith, he was holding Keith arm looking at the damage to the sleeve. 

“Really?” Keith looked back at him. Lance smiled and nodded. 

Allura’s phone began to rang, she grabbed the phone before anyone could look at the caller and she excused herself to answer. 

“Yeah of course, I could give it back to you in like a week?” Lance continued. “I’ll just take the hoodie now and start working on it tonight.” 

“That’d be great lance. Thanks” Keith took off the hoodie, revealing his bare arms to Lance and Pidge. His muscles had definitely gotten bigger, his tee-shirt sleeves were tighter and defined his arms more now. 

“woah...” Lance breathed, Pidge and Keith both glanced at him then back at each other. He was looking at Keith's bare arms with fascination. His mouth slightly open in awe of the sight before him. Was lance admiring his arms? 

No. 

Allura returned to the table, apologising for her absence. Lance seemed to jump at her sudden presence taking his eyes off Keith’s arms with a face of reluctance. His face tinted a deep pink. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Another thing Keith did to avoid his feelings towards Lance was taking long walks. Really long walks. It served a similar purpose to the gym, Keith had time to relieve stress but this also gave Keith time to think. Usually Keith would walk up to the ‘abandoned wonder’. 

Apparently in the 70s or 80s the city he lived in was really popular and to show this fame the city decided to make their own version of the Hollywood sign. But the city didn’t get any more popular and juts lost fame over the years, so the sign was abandoned. It had a metal fence protecting people from climbing on it but no one ever guarded it or stopped you from trespassing so Keith went there a lot, dubbing it the ‘abandoned wonder.’ 

It was his secret place, he had found it when he was about 13, he lived with a strict foster family so he spent most of his days outside avoiding them. He quickly realised no one else ever went there and not many knew about it. The forest around the sign had become overgrown and it blocked most of the sign from sight. But if you sat on top of the letters you could see the whole city and more. It was an amazing sight. 

When Keith was there he felt like the only person in the world, just him. And when it was just him, he let his mind wander, he told himself he shouldn’t but when he was there it felt like a break from reality. A time for him to think about whatever he wanted without reality falling on top of him. When he was in foster care, he would come up there close his eyes and imagine being back home with his Dad. Playing in their garden or his dad telling him stories of his Mum. He imagined his parents were there with him looking at the stars, he used to wonder about what his Mum was doing. But he didn’t think much about her anymore, as he got older he was told the truth about what happened with his Mum and he tended not to talk about her anymore. 

Now when he went there he thought about Lance. There was a tree that had grown right next to one of the letters and Keith would wrap his coat around it and rest into it pretending it was Lance. He knew he shouldn’t still do it, he told Pidge and Shiro he was moving on. But he wasn’t in the real world right now it was just him, and he wanted to think about Lance. 

He thought about Lance’s face, his favourite thing about it was his freckles they were slightly darker than his skin tone and they showed up more in summer. His eyes were the next best thing about Lance, they were same colour as the sky but had small details in them that resembled waves from the ocean. Lance’s laugh was another beautiful thing about him, it was reassuring and emotional. When Lance laughed, he spread such happiness through everyone else around him. Sometimes Keith wished that Lance secretly knew Korean so he understood what Keith had said that night Shiro let him confess in Korean. 

Keith loved everything about Lance even the things he should find annoying. Like the fact that Lance had a tendency to interrupt you, Keith couldn’t get mad at him for. He knew Lance always had a lot on his mind and would hold in his thoughts a lot of the time, so when Lance was interrupting you or cutting someone off, he wasn’t holding himself back he was being open. 

He fantasized about Lance holding him, on Valentines day he had gotten a taste of Lances embrace. It was different to a hug, much different, Lance held onto him and nuzzled into his neck. Their head were so close that Keith could have easily turned his neck to kiss him. He thought about them kissing a lot too, sometimes soft kisses, the types you give when saying goodbye or hello or when you needed reassurance. Loving kisses, like on the hand or forehead ones that true lovers shared. 

But there was also the rough kissing, open mouthed hot kissing. He imagined Lances tongue exploring his mouth while his hands travelled up Keith's shirt. Lance laying above him, kissing down his neck leaving love bites across him. Keith wondered what moments like that would be like with Lance. Would lance be gentle or rough? He imagined experiencing such pleasure with Lance that they climaxed, Keith yearned for that type of love. 

It was shameful, very. But Keith never told anyone about those thoughts, those were going to be his forever until he moved on. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“Keith!” Lance ran over to him. Keith stopped in place waiting for Lance to come closer. 

“Morning Lance” 

“Morning! I finished your hoodie!” Lance said with a wide smile. He reached into his bag pulling out the hoodie. 

Lance had neatly cross stitched the holes back together with different colours thread, he added some extra details so the stitching didn’t look so out of place. Blue stars, red hearts and purple circles along with some white dotted lines to show movement. 

“Do you like it?” Lance sounded worried. 

“It's amazing Lance!” he grabbed it off him, hurrying to put it on. His old plain black hoodie was now decorated in small pops of colour, handmade by Lance himself. Keith smiled showing his teeth as he tried to look at the sleeves again. Keith felt so happy in that moment, he didn’t think he just stretch his arms out and hugged Lance. 

It was a gentle hug Lance wasn’t expecting it so he was unprepared. Keith wrapped his arms around him and reached up to hold him close by pushing into his shoulder blades. He rested his head in Lances neck, Lance knelt down slightly so Keith could properly nuzzle into him. It was soft, innocent Lance quickly melted into the hug too resting his arms on Keith shoulders and laughing at the sudden affection. Keith hopped up and down on my feet and squeezed Lance as he did. 

“I’m glad you like it” Lance laughed as he held Keith a little tighter. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------- 

With the change in weather came more activities for the college clubs. Keith wasn’t a part of any but Lance was part of the swim club. He was obsessed with water, especially the ocean so swimming came very naturally to him. He mainly swam freestyle or butterfly in competitions. 

When they were young, Lance had taught Keith how to swim. But he never fully learnt as the accident happened not long after their first lesson, he knew the basics but never went swimming alone. Every year Lance forced everyone to come to the lake in the countryside for the day, it was a popular location in summer and many people stayed at the campsite nearby for a few days holiday. Keith expected lance to ask everyone to go there again soon. 

Lance had been busy with swim meets recently; he did a vocational course in college so he didn’t need to study for the upcoming exams. So he put all his time into training, he asked Keith for help and advice but they had yet to meet up to train together. 

Today was his first competition of the year, all of Lance’s family came. Keith, Pidge, Hunk and Allura sat a few seats away from them. Allura hadn’t been introduced to Lance’s family yet so they had agreed to just say her and Lance were friends. 

His family was fairly quiet, Lance’s Mama was busy trying to keep the younger children seated and his Dad sat with Lance’s one-year old nephew on his lap. His siblings sat in the row in front messing with each other, some with sketchbooks or phones to play with. Veronica and Luis, Lance’s older siblings, sat chatting a few seats away and Marco, lance’s oldest brother, was sat with his wife near Lance’s Dad. Veronica noticed Keith and waved with a smile, her and Lance might as well have been twins they looked so similar. 

Veronica’s waving attracted the attention of all the younger kids who immediately got excited when they saw Keith. He decided to go and say hello, Hunk followed behind him. 

The children swarmed Hunk and Keith, there was only about 4 of them, some siblings and some being nieces or nephews. Keith greeted them with a smile, they shouted question s up to him and climbed over Hunks feet. Both Keith and Hunk knew Lance’s family well and were very welcome at Lance, that said, anyone was welcome at Lance’s house Pidge could come over and be treated like family immediately. 

Lance’s Mama approached Hunk and Keith giving each of them a small hug. She was a short woman, just a little taller than Pidge, Lance had gotten all his height off his Dad. She smiled ta them saying hello and then whipped her attention round to the children, scolding them in Spanish for getting unsettled again. The kids reluctantly went back to their seats and she turned back to look at Hunk and Keith. 

“How are you boys?” she asked, holding each of their hands tightly. 

Keith and Hunk both answered shortly, mentioning exams and summer coming up. She nodded in agreement, making casual conversation for a while. 

Keith studied Lance’s family again, he couldn’t see Abuela. 

“Where’s Abuela?” He asked 

“She’s down talking to Lance. He got a little nervous one the way over here.” 

Lance did tend to panic before big events, competitions, parties, dates etc he always overthought everything and it made in nervous. Keith was going to offer going down to see Lance too but they didn’t have enough time before the competition started. 

Eventually Lance came out and stood at his lane. He stretched and hopped on the spot; Keith assumes these were to ease his nerves. He bent over, ready to dive and the race began. 

Keith didn’t know much about the rules of swim competition he just knew Lance was in the lead. He had quite a distance between his competitors, he had been working hard and it showed. His back looked more toned and his arms stretches gracefully through the water. The sing gang (and Hunk) cheered him on but Allura had disappeared sometime during the start of the race. 

She had been quiet since the beginning, preoccupied with her phone. She just wasn’t very talkative today Keith thought but when he noticed she was gone he couldn’t help but wonder where she had gotten to. He didn’t leave Lance though, he carried on cheering and when Lance reached the end, he had finished in first place. 

His whole family cheered, half in English and half Spanish. Hunk and Pidge screamed encouragement too. Keith whistled and shouted down to Lance, once he was out of the water, he waved to his friends and family before disappearing into the changing room. 

Allura still wasn’t back, there were a few more races but all of Lances were done so Keith snook away. He didn’t know where Allura would have gone, maybe down to the changing rooms to see Lance? Keith just hoped he didn’t walk in on them making out or anything. 

He turned the corner heading for the men's changing room. He passed a blonde girl with long wet hair tied into a tight bun. Keith recognised her from college, she was a new girl, came just as the year started. She was really quiet, Keith didn’t even know her name. She didn’t look at him just passed in casually. 

Keith passed the corner and saw Allura leaving the women's changing room, she saw him and tensed. 

“Keith?” 

“Hey, where were you? You missed Lances last race.” Keith approached her, he tried not to sound as angry as he felt. 

“I- um. I needed the bathroom.” She looked down at the floor. 

Keith didn’t want to pry; Pidge had lectured him enough times about the pain of periods to not complain when women went to the bathroom. “Whatever, Lance won by the way. Just act like you saw it.” 

She nodded and Keith passed her continuing down to the men's changing rooms. 

Keith waiting outside the changing rooms for minute or two. Lance was probably showering or getting changed, whatever he was taking a while. Keith tapped his foot, he was still angry at Allura. She was beginning to fall back into how she was before Valentines day, distant and rude. It set of Keith’s emotions, she was really selfish, if he was with Lance, he would spend every minute around him appreciating him. He would cheer even louder at his races and show him so much love. 

Lance left the changing room, noticing Keith on the bench near the door. 

“Hey, Lance! Congratulations” Keith stood up. Lance smiled back at him. He was wearing a tracksuit, hair slightly wet from the shower. 

“Thanks!”


	5. Pre-Exam Fluff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a bunch of fluff moments to help pass time in the story aha!  
> :)  
> Thanks for the support as always.
> 
> REMINDER: spoken italics means they are speaking in a different language that Keith can understand.

“Is all this really necessary?” Keith sat on the side of Lance’s bathtub, Lance smearing a thick minty facemask onto his cheeks and forehead. Lance face was a few inches away from his own, his was closely watching his fingers as they glided across Keith cheeks. Keith admired Lances face, having him this close meant he had a rare moment to study the details of his face, memorising them. He had two freckles just below his eye, one slightly larger than the other and a scar on his forehead near his hairline, probably from something in his childhood. 

Lances eyes were dark because of the lighting in the bathroom but it just made Keith admire them more. They looked like the ocean on a stormy night, determined and focused. Keith held back a loving smile, he was smitten, stuck to love lance forever. He didn’t mind, it was moments like this that made the heart ache worth it. 

“Yes, Keef its very necessary.” Lance stroked gentle fingers over Keith's scar, stopping to look at it before touching. “Did it hurt?” 

“What?” Keith asked, Lance was staring at his scar teary-eyed. Lance tapped the scar in indication to what he was asking about. “Oh, a little. I was pumped up on adrenaline so I didn’t feel it properly until the next day.” 

Lance sighed, “Maybe...” He blinked away tears. “Maybe if we hadn’t had that fight it wouldn’t have happened.” 

That’s why Keith had lied to Lance about the scar. Even with the lie to stop Lance from blaming himself he still found a way. Keith couldn’t imagine how guilty Lance would feel if he knew what actually happened, Keith didn’t care what others though he didn’t blame Lance for the scar. “Its not your fault Lance, it was some crazy dude who wasn’t thinking straight” Which was true except the crazy dude was Keith who LITERALLY was not thinking straight. 

“It doesn’t hurt, you can touch it.” Keith said softly. Lance hesitated by continued to glide the paste across my cheek. 

“Close your eyes” Lance’s fingers gently rubbed paste underneath Keith’s eyes, not too close that it touched his eyelashes. Lance was extra gentle and precise. 

Once they both had full facemasks on, they went back to Lance’s room. Lance sat just in front of Keith at the foot of the bed. He flicked through Netflix as Keith watched him, imaging pressing his chest to Lance’s back and wrapping his arms around his waist. 

“What do you wanna watch?” 

\----------------------------------------------------------- 

Lance had finally invited everyone to the lake near his house. They travelled to Lance’s in the morning, Lance’s Mama had prepared brunch. A mixed selection of vegetables, omelette, bacon and some Spanish cuisine mixed in, it was delicious. You’d expect from the amount she made that there would be left overs but no, Lance’s entire family had been raised with large meals so they all had bottomless pits for stomachs. Keith assumed Hunk’s family was very similar from how much he ate, Keith however couldn’t eat until eternity but he had learned a secret method. 

Keith would eat a full plate of food, this made Lance’s Mama give him more, he then slowly ate the second plateful until the family started to disperse from the table. He would then insist on cleaning or play with lance’s younger siblings. 

Today Keith was sat next to Lance’s Abuela, Lance sat at the far end of the table next to Hunk and Allura, Pidge was sat across from Keith. The rest of Lances family couldn’t all sit around the table, they tried though sitting tightly around the small table, some sitting on the kitchen counters and the younger kids sat on the older kids lap. It was a busy scene and Pidge and Allura were obviously uncomfortable with the amount of people around them, both growing up in small families they were a little overwhelmed. 

Pidge had grown up with Matt, her Mum and Dad who worked out of town so she didn’t see him a lot unless it was the holidays. From what Keith knew Allura had only grown up with her Father, an only child and her Mother wasn’t in the picture. He didn’t pry, he also grew up with a Mum very distant from him and his Dad, his Mum worked for the military and worked overseas a lot too it was something him and Pidge had bonded over. Hunk had no siblings but a lot of cousins who was close with, so he was probably good with both small and big get togethers. 

“Keith how are you so fine with this?” Pidge whispered to him as he dug into his first plateful. He loved Mama’s cooking, especially the way she roasted tomatoes lightly with a little seasoning. He was always first to grab when they were thrown on the table. 

“Uhh, I don’t know I just come round to Lance’s a lot?” He said with a mouthful. Shovelling another load of food into his mouth without swallowing the food already in there. Pidge grimaced at his slobby act. 

“Mi nieto is part of the family” Abuela patted his head with sipping her tea. “Everyone who is Lance’s friend is family here.” 

Keith smiled at her as she began to refill Pidge’s glass with orange juice. 

Lance’s Mama was rushing around the crowded dining area scolding restless kids and checking up on everyone. Hunk smiled as she refilled his plate with bacon and Lance’s with two more omelettes. Lance shouted at his Mama in Spanish, probably arguing about his plate already being full. She shouted back in Spanish and flicked his forehead which shut Lance up. 

“Katie! You’re plate in empty. If you don’t eat more you will never grow” It was ironic to hear her say that as she was only a little taller than Pidge herself. 

“Oh um!” Pidge didn’t have time to refuse before her plate was full with food again. 

“My tip, eat slowly. Once everyone starts to leave the table. Run!” Keith advised, grabbing the roast tomatoes off her plate with his fork. 

Eventually they escaped Lance’s house, filling Hunks car up with supplies before heading to the Lake. The Lake was rather large and looked like the ocean from where they were. They had chosen a spot away from everyone else there, near a cliffside they could jump up and cliff jump into the lake from. They had done that a few years back during a heatwave, Keith made sure to leave that out while telling Shiro about his day. 

Hunk had brought a small pop up tent that they could throw their bags and phones into, Hunk’s car was a while away now so it was more convenient to have a tent. Pidge, Hunk and Allura had worn their swimsuits underneath their clothes so once they arrived, they just stripped and ran towards the Lake with a beach ball Allura had brought. 

Keith had not been that smart however. He was cramped into the small tent attempting to shimmy out of hi jeans and into his swimming trunks, Lance had changed just before him in the same tent so how was it so hard for Keith? He groaned in annoyance at the angle he had gotten himself stuck in. 

“You okay in there Keith?” Lance asked from outside, Keith could hear a faint bit of amusement in Lances voice. 

“Yup! Just this tent is really tiny.” He shouted back, finally peeling the Jeans off his legs. He quickly took off his underwear and replaced them with a set of loose swimming trunks. 

When he left the tent, he saw Lance watching the others from his spot near their set up. They had started playing with the beach ball, bouncing it between them trying to keep it away from the water. Lance was watching Allura, she had a white designer bikini on that she covered with a white zip hoodie. She had a good body, she did modelling so she was very beautiful and knew the things she looked good in. She had taught Keith some of her tricks to look better, how to style what with what and which colours looked best with his complexion. 

Lance was admiring Allura and Keith was admiring Lance. He was topless, showing his toned stomach and shoulders off, his skin was slightly tanner on his arms and neck. His hair had curled in the sun ever so slightly and his freckles had deepened in colour from his tan. Lance was only wearing Swimming trunk; they covered his upper legs reaching down to his knees. But they fell loosely around his hips, showing off his V-line, toned lines that guided Keith’s eyes straight down to hi- 

Stop. 

Lance dragged his eyes away from Allura, watching Keith cover himself in sunscreen. Keith had learnt the hard way that he burns easily, the sun was bright this day and it was getting hotter by the day and he wasn’t risking going bright pink. He awkwardly stretched his arms round his waist to cover his back. 

“Jees Keith, just give me the bottle. I’ll do your back.” Lance took the bottle and strided behind Keith. He gave no warning before placing cold sunscreen between Keith’s shoulder blades. He jumped at the sudden cold touch. “Keith! Come back!” 

“Warn me next time you’re about to do that!” 

“Okay okay.” Lance laughed holding his hands up in defence. “Ready?” He asked. Keith nodded and Lance touched hi back again with sunscreen. It still made him jump but not as much. Lance’s hands were gentle, pressing cream into his back slowly. Lance was precise making sure to cover his whole back, getting teasingly close to Keith ass at one point. 

“I think I’m good now Dude...” Keith said impatiently. 

“I’m just making sure I get everywhere; I know you burn after two seconds of sun hitting.” Lance argued back, continuing to run his palms along Keith's muscles. 

“Sorry I wasn’t blessed with perfect skin” Keith mumbled. 

“Okay I think you’re done!” Lance removed his hands, Keith mourned the absence. 

They joined the game Pidge, Hunk and Allura were playing. The aim was to keep the beach ball from touching the water by bouncing it to someone else. They started in a neat circle a few feet away from each other but as the game progressed, they became more distant and intense. The was only at about knee depth so everyone ran through the water to reach the ball before it splashed into the lake. There were some dramatic leaps to bounce the ball causing everyone to get more wet than they planned. 

After the game had finished Lance insisted on cliff jumping, the cliffs weren't too high but they were high enough to get people nervous. The Lake was deep where the cliffs ended so there was no risk of hurting yourself it was just that height that scared people. 

Lance and Hunk had done it a lot in high school apparently and they had invited Keith the year after Lance and him had reunited. It was nerve wracking; Keith had never done it before then. It took a lot of encouraging of Lance and Hunk but once he jumped, he fell in love with the feeling it gave him. It was a similar feeling to how he felt when he was at the abandoned wonder. He felt empty, but in a good way, no pressure or stress pulling him down. He could feel the wind blow through his hair and the weightless sensation in his body, he swore he floated for a second. And once he hit the water, he was engulfed in a shocking cold it woke him up and filled his body with excitement. 

Pidge was nervous, she had been invited the year before but backed out right before they all jumped. She was always afraid of heights, when her and Keith met, she struggled to climb on the monkey bars without Keith standing below her. Allura didn’t look too scared, maybe she had done this before? It was the first time jumping with them though. 

Lance was the first to jump, cheering as he did, he waved his arms about and straightened his body right before hitting the water. He stayed underwater for a minute before resurfacing and laying in a back float so he could watch the others. 

“You okay Allura?” Keith asked, standing next to her. Their friendship was an awkward one, one minute they were fine but other times things felt tense between them. Keith tried to read her mood today as that usually predicted how awkward things would be between them. Today seemed to be fairly awkward, she was distant but friendly to everyone else and Keith would sometimes see her out of the corner of his eye, watching him. 

“Yeah, just never done this before.” 

“You nervous?” He asked, she had her hand holding her other arm, a position most people held when they were nervous. But Allura shook her head and looked towards Keith. 

“No, I’m excited. I’m a bit of a thrill seeker I suppose.” She giggled watching Hunk get ready to jump. 

He did so without a warning, he was less graceful that Lance. He huddled into a cannon ball and let of a big splash that caused Lance’s peaceful back float to be disturbed. Lance cheered at Hunks big splash as Hunk climbed onto the rocks near the cliffs to watch the others. 

Pidge was frozen, she was scared Keith could tell. She looked like this last year too. Allura and Keith both noticed her drop in confidence. Allura approached her placing a hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner. 

“Pidge, would you want to jump together? I’ve never done this before either.” 

Pidge looked up at Allura, she took a moment to think before nodding. Allura held her hand and Pidge grabbed it. They walked up to the edge together and Lance counted them down. Pidge seemed hesitant at first but she knew that the last thing you should do is back out mid jump so when Allura jumped so did she. They both hit the water with a splash similar to Hunk’s, Lance and Hunk cheered them from the water and Keith cheered from the cliff. 

Lance looked up to Keith, “Come on mullet!” he teased. It wasn’t a nickname he used often, usually when challenging him. Keith smiled at the name, it used to annoy him but he had learnt to love it. He took a few steps back before running full speed and leaping into the water. His stomach went empty as he fell and he felt exhilarated once he hit the water. He could hear everyone cheering him from the surface but he stayed under water for a moment. The noises were muffled and his eyes showed nothing but deep blue water. Eventually he had to swim up and he weakly swam to the rocks everyone else had sat on. Lance offered his hand and pulled him up onto the rocks to join them. 

They sat there for a while, letting the water drip off them and their swim suits. Pidge was super proud of herself and she received a lot of praise off everyone for her bravery. She was reluctant to jump again though. Allura, hunk and Lance agreed to get ice-cream from the nearby shop while Keith and Allura stayed by the tent. 

Keith applied another layer of sunscreen onto himself, he didn’t attempt to get his back. Allura sat on a towel twisting her hair to get the water out. There was a clear silence, it was thick and very noticeable but Keith didn’t know how to break it. He just continued to rub cream into his arms. 

“Don’t forget your face, your nose is already a little red.” She was right, Keith could feel the slight burn on his nose and cheeks. 

“Thanks.” 

They went back to the awkward silence. Allura had stopped twisting her hair and she was looking out over the Lake now. She seemed frustrated or stuck, Keith couldn’t tell. She tapped her finger against the towel. 

“Are we... good?” She turned to Keith. 

Keith was caught off guard by the question. Allura was looking at him deeply, her expression was serious. Kieth met her eyes. “Yes?” 

“Are you sure because I feel like ever since...” She hesitated, “ever since Valentine's day it feels like there's been this barrier between us.” She looked down. 

Shit, she was right. Things had been more awkward ever since then, to be fair he did call her a bitch and told her to fuck off. Keith wouldn’t be surprised if she was still upset. “Yeah um, things have been awkward. I guess I never apologised for what I said.” 

“You don’t have to Keith. I was being rude to Lance.” 

“But I shouldn’t have yelled at you and called you all that shit. It was unneeded and I’m sorry.” he did mean it; he had grown to know Allura a lot more since then and she was a really fun girl to hang out with. Sure, she still had moments where she was distant with Lance and that made Keith incredibly angry and jealous but he shouldn’t hold it against her. 

Allura didn’t respond she seemed lost for words like she wanted to say something back but couldn’t. “Thanks Keith. I’m... I’m sorry too.” 

Lance and the returned with ice creams but not long after they finished their treats Allura had to leave. Her Father had told her to be home by sun down and she had asked her assistant to pick her up at the Lake car park. Lance escorted her back. 

The sun had begun to set and the sky was decorated a vibrant orange colour. Pidge was changing into some warmer clothes while Hunk and Keith admired the view. The sun set perfectly over the horizon of the lake. 

“This really was a great day.” Hunk smiled. 

Keith hummed in agreement. Pidge emerged from the tent, closing it back into its bag. Lace hadn’t returned yet and they had packed up all their stuff so they decided to head back to Hunk car. The trail was clear but surrounded by trees. It was mostly uphill and the view over the Lake was beautiful, especially during the sunset. The three of them reminisced on their day and talked about how brave Pidge had been compared to last year. They reached the end of the trail and saw Lance and Allura by Hunks car. 

Before Hunk could shout over to them pidge slapped a hand over his mouth, pulling Keith and Hunk behind a rock. Keith had a second to process what he saw before Pidge had yanked him away. 

Lance had Allura pinned against the side of Hunks car, one arm rested against the car door while the other held Allura’s chin. They were exchanging heated kisses, Allura's arms wrapped around his neck as they looked at each other lustfully. 

“Wha-!” Pidge covered Hunks mouth again to muffle his protests. She had a finger over her lips in a shushing manner. She tilted her head back towards Lance and Allura. Hunk peeked around the tree quickly realising the situation he almost walked in on. 

“You really wanna have to awkwardly interrupt that?” she whispered. Hunk shook his head. They had crouched down, hopefully out of sight. Pidges hand rest against Keith’s knee in a knowing way, she knew that seeing that would hit Keith hard but they had agreed to not talk about it. 

It did, it hit Keith really hard. He had seen Lance and Allura kiss before but they were soft short kisses. This was a kiss with lust, hot and open-mouthed. Keith felt like he had been punched in the stomach, winded by reality itself. 

The three of them sat hidden in the bushes near the end of the path for several minutes, Hunk or Pidge peering over to see if they had finished yet. They hadn’t. Hunk sat down next to Keith. He was looking out to the sunset; it was almost completely gone. It was dark and Keith hoped Hunk couldn’t see how teary his eyes were. 

Hunk looked at him, the dim lighting didn’t hide the concern on his face. “Keith you okay?” 

Keith wiped his eyes and looked back at him. He couldn’t speak the lump in his throat was suffocating him. He let out a small choke before nodding, faking a smile. Hunk smiled back, his eyebrows still turned upwards in a sympathetic way. 

Tires pulled up nearby, they all peered around the rock. Allura quickly kissed Lance deeply again before jumping in the back of the car. It was a quick shift and suddenly Lance was left Lance by Hunk’s car. They waited a moment before appearing back on the trail and greeting Lance. 

“Oh did we just miss Allura?” Pidge said watching her drive away. 

“Yeah...” Lance huffed. 

Keith pretended to sleep on the way back to Lance’s, his eyes were teary and his heart ached a little too hard to ignore. He rested his head against the window and shut his eyes. Lance sat next to him in the back seat, he could hear Lance giggling at his ‘sleeping’ form and he heard Lance’s camera click a few times. 

“Lance... let him sleep!” Pidge scolded in a joking tone. She had sat in the front with Hunk. 

“He looks so cute though! Perfect blackmail imagery.” 

Keith’s heart ached a little harder. 

Lance was dropped off and Keith's stayed ‘asleep.’ He pretended to wake up somewhere along a country road, just looking out the window silently. Neither Hunk or Pidge spoke to him, they talked amongst themselves. Hunk dropped Pidge off and Keith moved to the front seat, waving Pidge goodbye. 

Hunk didn’t move once Pidge was out of sight. He tapped his fingers on his steering wheel and looked around nervously before looking at Keith. 

“Can I... Ask you something Keith?” 

Keith looked back a Hunk, like a deer caught in the headlights. “Sure.” He didn’t know what Hunk was going to ask next. They never really spoke one on one ever. 

“Do you like Lance?” 

Keith's breath caught in his throat, he and Hunk had their eyes locked on each other. Hunk's face was unreadable, the lump in his throat from earlier returned bigger. He choked on his words. 

“It's okay if you do. I won't say anything to him.” Hunk offered, his expression was calm and reassuring. “I just had a feeling...” 

“I- Um,” Keith choked. “Yeah. Yeah I do.” He admitted. His brain short-circuited, he was feeling a million emotions and none at the same time. 

“Okay” Hunk nodded. “Your secrets safe with me Keith! He started the engine and turned off the pavement. 

“How did you know?” 

Hunk took a deep breath in keeping his eyes on the road. “It was a lot of little things, I guess. The way you look at him, how you were on Valentine's day, I just got a vibe.” 

“Right...” Keith nodded, looking away from Hunk. 

“How long have you liked him?” 

“I’m not sure, maybe a year or more? I was trying to ignore the feelings but after New year's they just got too much.” He spoke, he sounded unsure which was true 

Hunk parked at the front of Keith’s apartment; he obviously had more questions. Hunk avoided looking at Keith, “What are you going to do?” 

“Move on.” Keith shrugged, “Thanks for the ride Hunk. See ya later” He patted Hunks shoulder and left the car. 

\----------------------------------------------------------- 

“Okay Hunk Truth or Dare!” 

Keith, Hunk, Lance and Keith had met up one evening on a weekend. They ordered takeout and watched dumb movies, plus one good movie in the mix. They had somehow ended up playing truth or dare, they were a few rounds in. Lance had dared Pidge to put a slit in her eyebrow which she happily did, Keith she had one a few years ago so having it again didn’t bother her. 

Pidge asked Hunk how he and shay met as a truth, he responded with a longwinded cute tale of a group chat for fans of a band. He and Shay had really gotten along and started private messaging; it took about a year before they started dating though. 

Lance had dared Keith to wear Pidge’s makeup to turn himself emo again. Keith complained but did so while they did a few more rounds, he had red eyeshadow under his eye with black added in right on his waterline. He had drawn thin lines going down from his eyes to his cheeks similar to clown makeup. Lance was satisfied. 

“Okay Keith truth or dare?” Lance asked. 

“Truth.” 

“Boring but okay um” Lance thought for a moment. “Okay, top 3 female and top 3 male celebrity crushes.” 

“Eh- Lance I’m gay.” 

“yeah and?” 

“I don’t have any female celebrity crushes.” Keith shook his head lightly. 

“Really?” Lance tilted his head with confusion. 

“Yeah Lance...” Pidge added. 

“Oh... I thought everyone was attracted to both but they just chose which gender they preferred?” Lance asked, Keith and Pidge made knowing eye contact at each other. 

“That sounds closer to bisexuality Lance.” Pidge said. 

“Bi-sexuality?” Lance sounded even more lost. 

“Yeah, being attracted to both genders.” Keith stated. 

“Isn’t that just everyone?” 

“No.” Keith hesitated; he had just hit some very interesting information. “Lance are you bi?” 

Lance didn’t answer he sat thinking. Pidge and Keith made eye contact again, giving each other a look. If they had this moment with Lance a few months earlier maybe things would have gone differently for him. 

“Wait so, not everyone find both genders attractive?” He asked. 

“No.” Pidge answered. 

“And you don’t have to choose?” 

“God no! If you're bi you're bi Lance. Spread the love.” Pidge exclaimed. 

“Huh.” Lance said quietly, he looked as though he had just realised something big. “I- I don’t know. Maybe I’m bi” 

“it's okay if you don’t know right now Lance. This stuff takes time.” Hunk reassured. Keith's brain was doing flips. He was ecstatic, Lance could be bi! His brain kept repeating that fact. 

\----------------------------------------------------------- 

Keith's shift had been slow, working an afternoon midweek so he practically had no sales. It was just him and one other employee, she was a newbie and it was Keith's first shift with her. She was pale with blonde hair tied into low pigtails, Keith recognised her as the new girl at their college, he had seen her once before at Lance’s competition. 

Keith was set with training her on the basics, he introduced himself and got her name, Romelle. He showed her how to prepare the tapioca balls and showing her flavours and process of sealing the lids. It was really basic things but she still seemed overwhelmed. 

“You okay? We can go over something again if you need extra help, its dead so we have tons of time.” 

“Hm? Oh um no I think I’ve got it.” She said, her cheeks were slightly pink and her hands were held up to her chest shyly. 

“You sure, you seem kind of nervous?” 

She jumped on the spot at Keith's comment, “No no I’m not nervous I just.” She shook her hands in defence, “You’re friends with Lance and Allura, right?” 

“Yeah? Why?” He was a little thrown off by the question, how did she know? 

“Oh! Um I’ve seen you round and I talk to Allura sometimes.” she said quietly looking down at her feet. She was really shy. 

“Oh um okay, cool.” 

As college and high schools started to finish the mall were flooded with students hanging out after class. A few more employees were on shift by then so the crowds were manageable. Keith’s boss had come onto the store front to help with the orders too except he shouted across to the other worker in Japanese and ignored Keith and Romelle. 

“Another classic medium ice tea!” His boss shouted across the workspace, “Make sure the newbie doesn’t fuck it up” 

“Nah she's actually doing okay!” the other worker shouted back. 

Romelle was clearly tense, she smiled through it though. Keith's noticed her eyes getting teary and he blinking starting to get more rapid. Keith helped her throughout his shift, since he was training her, they finished at the same time. He guided her to the backroom and told her the code to get in, she hadn't been assigned a locker yet so she had just hidden her coat under the counters on the shop floor. 

“I can’t believe they didn’t tell me about the backroom.” she was embarrassed. 

“Don’t stress about it too much, management isn’t the best here.” Keith responded while removing his apron and retrieving his jacket and bag from his locker. 

“I bet they talk shit about us too...” 

“They do, they think I can’t understand them” 

Romelle laughed, “really? Why don’t you say anything?” 

“Advantage!” He winked with his thumb up, channelling Lances enthusiasm as he did. 

\----------------------------------------------------------- 

Pidge, Hunk, Lance, Allura and Keith all met up after college. They went back to Keith’s place, Lance sat on the floor cuddling Kosmo, Allura sat on the bed next to him and Hunk sat on the foot of Keith bed. Pidge and Keith were at Keith’s computer, setting up a karaoke playlist for them to jam out to. 

Exams were just about to start and they needed some chill time together before the exams stressed them out too much. 

“Okay I think it's ready.” Pidge smiled, turning the speaker up to max. “And to start it off...” 

The familiar opening to Bohemian Rhapsody began to play. Lance cheered and stood up from his place on the floor, holding his phone as if it was a mic. 

“-Caught in a land slide no escape from reality...” he sang. 

“I’m just a poor boy I need no sympathy!!” Pidge joined in. 

“Easy come easy go! Little high little low” they sand in unison with the song, Lance holding his phone in-between them so they could share the imaginary microphone. “Anyway the wind blows! Doesn't really matter to me!!!” They screamed. “To me!!” Lance sung sadly into the mic, getting into the song. 

Hunk began to play an invisible piano next to them and Lance looked to Keith, tilting his head inviting him to join in as well. Keith approached but didn’t sing, just laughed at Lance took his hand in his own and then turned to sing to Allura. 

“Mama.... Just killed a man...” He sung to her, inviting her to join in. 

“Put a gun against his head...” She sang back, making Lance’s smile grow wider. 

“Pulled my trigger now he dead!!” Pidge, Lance and Allura sung in unison again. Hunk continued to play his imaginary piano, getting more emotional and Lance moved behind him letting go of Keith's hand to clutch at his heart dramatically. “If I’m not back again this time tomorrow” He looked at Keith and winked, encouraging Keith to join in. 

“Too late!! My time has come!! Send shivers down my spine” They all sang, “Body’s aching all the time!” Lance fell to his knees dramatically in front of Keith, holding his hand up to Keith. Keith reached out and Lance grabbed his hand, “Goodbye, everybody. I’ve got to go go!!” he squeezed Keith's hand tightly, holding it to his chest. 

Keith was getting hyped; he was trying to hide it but lance knew he loved this song. He was on cloud 9, all his friends in room singing Bohemian Rhapsody and his crush holding his hand practically serenading him. “Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth. Come Keith!” 

“MAMA! Ooh!” Keith sang, Lance watched him from below still holding his hand. Hunk began to play an invisible guitar behind them. “I don’t want to die!” Keith never admitted it but he knew he was a good singer; Lance’s face was looking up at him with such joy. “I sometimes wish I’d never been born at all!” 

“I see a little silhouetto of a man” They all sang in a deep tone. 

“Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?” Allura sang. 

“Thunderbolt and Lightning very very frightening me!” Lance and Keith sung together. 

“Galileo!” Hunk and Pidge both sang, Hunk singing the high pitched one and Pidge imitating a deep voice to sing the others. 

“Magnifico-o-o-o-o-ooh!” they all sang enthusiastically. 

They continued to sing along with the song, Hunk and Lance occasionally playing an invisible instrument while they sang. They danced around Keith's room as if they were performing and on stage and when the guitar solo hit, Keith jumped on his bed and began to violently play a non-existent guitar. Everyone cheered him on and began playing their own imaginary guitars too. 

When the song finally finished playing, they all panted softly, letting themselves catch their breathe. The next song began to play and it was a classic ABBA song, everyone screamed in excitement started to sing again. Each song was like this, a classic song everyone knew, the playlist was a mix of Queen, ABBA, MCR and some other classics like Whitney Houston and Beyoncé. 

It was a good night. 

\----------------------------------------------------------- 

Lance: 

21:04: Can I call you? 

21:07: ye of course :p 

Keith lay on his bed, waiting for his phone to ring. It took a few minutes before Lance rang. 

“Hi Lance” 

“Hey...” Lance sounded down. 

“You good?” 

“Um... yeah eh- no no I’m not” He admitted. 

“Want to talk about it?” 

“I- um, how did you know you were gay?” oh. Lance was questioning, Keith's stomach was filled with butterflies. 

“Um, I don’t know I guess I knew since I was a kid. I was just attracted to guys in different way than women.” 

“How did it feel different?” 

“Well... I knew I wanted to date men but I just didn’t want to do that with women I guess.” Keith offered, he had never come out to any of his foster families and they never asked. When Shiro adopted him, he didn’t feel the need to come out since he knew Shiro would be chill with it. 

He could hear Lance shuffle over the phone, he was probably tossing and turning in his bed. “I’m really confused” His voice cracked. “I-” lance cut himself off and just sighed deeply. 

“Lance, it's okay to not have a label. You can be attracted to both and just not label yourself.” 

“But I feel like I need to.” 

“Well you don’t” Keith argued in joking tone. “Nobody needs to know that shit if you don’t wanna share. If you date a dude that’s your business.” Keith hesitated, “Do you want to date men?” he asked. 

“yeah, if I wasn’t with Allura I would.” He paused, “If I met the right guy.” 

Keith’s stomach did a somersault, was he the right guy for Lance? Did Lance find him attractive? 

Lance pulled Keith out of his thoughts, “I think I’m bi.” Keith smiled, he sounded confident. “But! Don’t tell anyone though, this is our secret.” He could see Lance smiling with his tongue peeking out his mouth in his head. 

Keith laughed, “Okay, it's our secret.”


	6. Post-Exam Fluff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter is short!! I want Alluras party to be its own chapter ;) so expect big things aha lol  
> still got a while to go before this is finished I think. Thanks for the support as usual, I'm already thinking about what fic to do next.  
> :)  
> enjoy!

Keith’s exams went by fast, he spent most of May studying or taking his exams. So did Hunk, Pidge and Allura, so no one saw each other much that month. Keith went to the gym each evening to work off the stress and then he would study, it was a boring month. 

Pidge: 

18:41: Keef how many exams do you have left? 

19:05: 2 sorry for not responding sooner I was at the gym 

19:21: no worries I'm studying so I’ll be pretty slow to reply 

19:22: oh I can leave you and we can chat later? 

Keith sat with Adam on the couch, Kosmo was sat in front of them on the floor. Shiro was making tea that night, despite how bad of a cook he was Adam and Keith let him try. Kosmo knew that whenever Shiro cooked he would be given some sneakily while Shiro wasn’t looking. 

Shiro handed Keith and Adam their plates, it was chicken? That was burnt on the outside and accompanied by a salad that wreaked of vinegar. They gave each other a worrying look and thanked Shiro for the meal. Somehow Shiro had managed to burn the outside of the chicken and leave the inside uncooked slightly, the meat had the texture of a jelly that had a crispy skin on it. Nasty. 

The salad would have been nice if Shiro hadn’t drenched it in too much Caesar dressing. Adam and Keith slowly fed chunks to Kosmo as he didn’t care. Shiro joined them on the seat next to the couch, Adam and Keith watched him take a bite. Chewing slowly Shiro's face turned grimace. 

“Pizza or Chinese food?” Shiro asked, accepting defeat. 

“Chinese.” they said in unison. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Pidge: 

20:23: Keef. 

20:24: Youd dead? 

20:26: nah my exams are over now 

20:28: damn... I got 1 more tomorrow. 

20:28: oof 

20:29: good luck! 

20:34: cheers keefy 

He lay on his bed; Keith had his last exam today. It was fairly easy, with how hard Keith had been studying he hadn’t struggled with his exams. That was one thing he could thanks his crush on Lance for. Keith stared up at his ceiling, he let his brain take a break. From his exams, job and crush on Lance he had a lot on his mind and getting his exams over with was a massive weight off his shoulders. 

There was a small knock on his door, Shiro peeked his head in. He had a sealed envelope in his hand. 

Never mind, Keith's relaxing moment was ruined. 

“She sent another letter. Do you want me to leave it with you?” 

“Whatever, just leave it on the desk I’ll read it later.” He shrugged, turning over onto his side. Shiro placed the letter on his desk and exited swiftly. 

Every so often Keith would receive a letter from his Mum, most people assumed she was dead. She wasn’t she worked overseas for the Military. She sent him letter sporadically, Keith assumed she sent them whenever she could. He kept a large suitcase under his bed that was full of all her letters, she had been sending them since he was 13. Keith hated every single one. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

It was a windy night, there was a large storm due to roll into town in any day now. Keith let the wind blow through his hair, he had tried to keep his hood up but the strong wind kept blowing it down so he gave up. He was sat at the abandoned wonder again. He had brought his mother's letter with him, he wasn’t sure if he was going to read it but he brought it just in case. 

Lance and him hadn’t spoken for a while, he had been giving everyone space so they could study. And when Allura had finished all her exams he spent most his time with her. Keith had texted him every evening or so but the conversations were short and sweet. Keith missed Lance. 

Keith sat looking over to the city, he tried to find his own apartment in the mess of buildings. The sun hadn’t set yet and the rush hour traffic had finally dispersed so the city seemed serene. Keith held himself close, he liked the abandoned wonder but it made him feel so alone at times. His phone buzzed in his pocket; Lance was calling. 

“Lance?” 

“Hey um, can we talk?” 

Keith’s stomach dropped, Lance sounded depressed his voice was soft and cracked a little when he spoke. It wasn’t unusual for Lance to call him when he was upset or had something on his mind. 

“You okay?” Keith asked. 

“Do you ever feel like no one cares about you. Like you're just a tiny blip and noone would notice if you disappeared?” 

His heart broke at the question, Keith didn’t know how to respond. Lance continued talking: 

“Like, sometimes it feels like no matter what I do or say no one really cares about me or my emotions. I’m just there for other people's entertainment and I don’t really exist in myself? Sometimes I think about how I probably could disappear and it wouldn’t matter, life would continue and people would move on.” 

“I wouldn’t. If you disappeared, I would spend my whole life searching for you.” Keith held himself closer as he said it. Lance huffed; Keith hoped he was smiling. “If you disappeared one day Lance, I would be so lost, you're my best friend. If one day I suddenly couldn’t see you or talk to you or laugh with you, I would break. I would think about you every day.” he confessed. 

Lance started to cry slightly, he hiccupped over the phone and held the phone closer to his ear. 

“Lance, I’m nearby the Lake. Do you want to meet?” Keith offered. 

Lance sniffed, “Yeah, how long will you be?” 

“I’ll be there don’t worry.” 

“Okay, thank you” 

Keith was close to the Lake. The abandoned wonder was about a 15-minute walk from the lake if Keith went through the forest. Lance would be about half an hour. The sun hadn’t set yet, it was probably going to in just over an hour but Keith knew he would okay. If he had to, he knew he could ring Shiro to come and get him. 

He waited in the carpark for Lance, the wind had calmed down and the sun shined brighter as it lowered in the sky. Keith thought about Lance, if he was still crying on the way over or if he had calmed down? He didn’t get his hopes up for a serious moment between them, his feelings had died off maybe it was just the distance over exam seasons but Keith didn’t hurt as much. He was still jealous of Allura and still wanted to be with Lance but his feelings were calmer. He was tired of riding an emotional rollercoaster where one minute he thinks he has a chance then reality slaps him in the face. Right now, he just needed to be there for Lance. 

Lance began approaching and Keith stood and walked towards him. Lances eye looked tired and strained from crying. Keith smiled at him weakly and Lance smiled back with the same lack of enthusiasm. 

“Sorry, Keith, I just get like this sometimes.” he wiped his eyes. 

“No don’t apologise. It’s okay to be sad” 

They walked for a while; Lance spoke for most of the journey. He spoke of feeling so small he was unnoticeable, of feeling like no matter who he became he didn’t feel like a real person, feeling like no one really cared about him the way he cared about them. Keith listened to him, not responding. Lance didn’t need an answer he just needed someone to listen. 

They sat near the cliff edge they cliff jumped off every year. Letting their feet dangle Lance ran out of words. He had spoken endlessly for minutes about his insecurities, fears and feelings. 

The sun was beginning to set, the sky had turned a deep orange and pink colour that faded into a dark purple if you looked up. 

Keith took a deep breath before speaking, “You know I care about you a lot right Lance? If no one else in the world cares about then I’m the exception, I will always care about you.” The words had a lot more meaning behind them than Lance knew. He looked towards Lance, his face coloured a soft orange from the sunset, his freckles shined clearly on his cheeks. 

“Yeah, I know. Thanks Keith.” 

They sat for a while, watching the sunset. They didn’t speak, just thought about things. After a few minutes Lance got up, taking a few back from the cliff edge he shuffled out of his shoes and began to strip. 

“What- What are you doing?” Keith hoped the sudden red on his face was noticeable. 

“I think this has been a little too serious. Time for some fun.” He unbuttoned his jeans, “Come one Keith, let's go for a swim.” He stood in his boxers. 

Keith was speechless, but Lance looked at him with such hope that he couldn’t refuse. He stood up and stripped too. They both stood near the cliff edge and Lance counted them down, after one they both leaped into the water. 

Keith splashed about for a moment when he emerged. The water was much colder than before, he shivered as Lance swam by. 

“Its freezing Lance!” 

Lance laughed swimming over to him, “calm down Keith, kick gently with your legs.” 

Keith became a little more balanced and Lance held his arms to stop his thrashing. 

“Do you know how to swim Keith?” 

“Briefly” he breathed, holding onto Lances arms. 

Lance helped Keith swim more confidently for a while until Keith was shivering too much. The sun had lowered and the sky was turning dark. They both decided to head back to tehri clothes before it became too dark to see the path back. Both boys were dripping wet, Keith tried to keep his eye away from Lance’s lower body as both men had soaked clothes now. 

Lances upper half looked incredible with wet, the water slided down from his hair to his shoulder blades and it made Lance look like a painting. Reluctantly they both put their clothes on while still wet, it was awkward and their t-shirts stuck to their chests and Keith's dampened jeans felt gross against him. 

“Oh Keith, this felt out of you pocket-” Lance held the letter in his hand. His voice had silenced when he realised it was a sealed envelope. Keith hurried to reach for it back. 

“Oh yeah thanks Lance” He laughed while taking the letter back, starting to walk back along the path for the carpark. Lance didn’t ask about it again. They walked back to Lances still damp, Keith wasn’t sure if he was going to sleep over or not. By the time they reached Lance’s house the sun had disappeared and the streets were dark. 

They snook into Lance’s room, avoiding his mama who would scold them both for cliff jumping, Lance decided to have a shower first, Keith was given some clothes to borrow while his tried on the radiator. 

Shiro: 

20:52: Hey Shiro, I’m at Lances. Might sleepover not sure rn tho 

20:57: No worries Keith, let me know what's happening ;] 

20:58: NOT THAT KIND OF SLEEPOVER 

20:58: okay... 

21:58: Ill text you an update soon 

Keith heard the bathroom door open and Lance quickly re-entered his bedroom. He was in basic shorts with only a towel wrapped around his neck. His face still slick with water and his hair starting to curl at the ends as it dried. Lance looked hot. 

“You want a shower?” 

“No, I’m okay, thanks.” Keith tried not to stare at Lance. “Should I ask Shiro to pick me up?” 

Lance looked surprised, “If you want. You’re free to spend the night here though. Mama won't care.” He joined Keith on the bed. 

“Do you want me to sleep over though, don’t want to intrude on private Lance time.” 

Lance lay back on the bed, he chuckled “I’ve had too much private Lance time dude. It feels like forever since we hung out” 

“I’ll stay over then.” Keith, texted Shiro. 

“yess” Lance said quietly. 

After some arguing over a film to watch Lance had convinced Keith to watch Clueless. Keith wasn’t a fan of cheesy rom-coms, especially when he was single as fuck. But it was Lance and seeing how upset Lance was earlier made his heart hurt so he left Lance put on whatever he wanted. 

Midway through the film Keith looked over to Lance. “So... How are you and Allura doing?” 

Lance didn’t reply, he let out a deep breath. “I’m not sure, she's been distant? But not like cold distant, I don’t know. It just feels like we are just friends most of the time. Wouldn’t be surprised if we broke up soon to be honest.” He sighed again, “I just get a feeling I guess.” 

Despite Keith's jealousy, he still felt bad, Allura was someone Lance had crushed on for years and seeing it not work out hurt to see. He shuffled closer to Lance, rested his head on Lance shoulder and placed his hand next to Lances in case Lance needed a hand to hold. 

“It’ll be okay, whatever happens you have people around who can help you through it.” 

Lance smiled, reaching out to hold Keith hand. He rested his head against Keith’s. 

“I know. Thank you, Keith.” 

They stayed like that, resting against each other for the rest of the film. 

“I can’t believe Cher never saw that there was a great guy there for her the whole time!” 

Keith would have laughed at the irony of Lances statement if he was awake. Somewhere need the end of the film Keith had drifted off to sleep. Lance didn’t dare wake him. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Allura: 

13:03: Hey Keith, I’m throwing an end of school/start of summer party at my house next week and you’re invited! I’ve invited Lance, Pidge and Hunk as well. There’ll be a lot of people from college there, free drinks and food etc. :] 

13:07: Hi Allura, sure I’ll come! 

13:09: Great! I’ll see you there, the dress code is casual party? Aha lol idk how to describe it 

Keith never usually went to college parties, he liked drinking but tended to lose his filter when he drank and he didn’t want to look like an idiot. But since Pidge and Hunk were going, he figured he would spend most the party with them and then leave with them early to just hang out as the three of them.


	7. Allura's Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAA okay here it is.  
> this chapter is pretty much my whole reasoning for writing this story.  
> I hope you enjoy it :)
> 
> sorry its short

“Hey Shiro, how do you dress for a college party?” Keith peeked his head into Shiro’s field of vision, Shiro was working hard on a case at work. He had his glasses on and was closely examining a file when Keith approached him. 

“I’m probably not the best person to ask-” 

“I can help!” Adam blurted from the kitchen; he was in the middle of cooking tea but couldn’t resist a runway moment. He demanded Keith model each outfit to him. 

Keith did as Adam asked, modelling each outfit shyly into the kitchen. Adam would study the outfit, hand on his chin as he thought deeply. He shouted “Next!” and Keith retreated back his room to change again. This happened a few times, Adam would tell him to try one part of the outfit with something else and Shiro would look over sometimes and share his thoughts. 

“I think this is it.” Adam smiled. 

Keith wore a red tee with a leather jacket over it, ripped jeans and dr martens' black boots. It was a classic Keith outfit but Adam claimed it was perfect for a college party. 

He was more nervous about Allura's party than he let on, he didn’t talk to a lot of people at his college classes so suddenly having to mingle would be a challenge. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Keith met Pidge, Hunk and Lance before the party. Hunk drove but said he planned on drinking so they may need to get a taxi back. 

Pidge was wearing shorts with fishnet tights and a loose vest top with a denim jacket on top. Hunk wore camo cargo pants with a shirt and button-up tee shirt on top. Keith wore the outfit he and Adam had planned together and Keith had styled his hair so that his bangs fell perfectly over his forehead and his ends curled slightly from air drying. 

Lance was stylish as always, wearing a bomber jacket over a graphic tee and slightly ripped blue jeans. His hair wasn’t styled but it didn’t need to be, it curled naturally and was perfect. Keith tried not to admire Lance, Pidge elbowing him after she noticed him staring too long. 

Lance had insisted they arrive fashionably late to Allura’s party so when they got there her apartment was packed full of people. Music was blaring out the windows and Keith quickly realised Allura lived in a fucking penthouse. 

“What the fuck Lance! How did you never mention that Allura lived in a penthouse!” Pidge said, looking at herself in the mirrors of the elevator as they waited to reach the top floor. 

“Yeah this shit is fancy as hell!” Hunk added, looking at the intricately designed patterns on the elevator doors. 

They reached the top floor quickly and Lance dispersed from the group to find Allura. Pidge, Hunk and Keith stood near the entrance to Allura’s place, looking over the crowds of people and watched aimlessly. 

“What now?” Hunk said. Keith shrugged. 

“We should’ve drunk before this. Fucking hell” Pidge sighed. “Come on let's go find some alcohol.” she grabbed Hunk and Keith by their shirts, dragging them through the crowds of people in an attempt to find the kitchen. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Somehow Hunk, Pidge and Keith had been dragged into a shot roulette game. One of Pidges classmates called her over and suddenly they were rolling a roulette wheel and downing whatever it landed on. It was a good way to catch up with all the other tipsy people around them but Pidge was lightweight so she got much tipsier much quicker. 

Keith was starting to feel the buzz now as well, he had a few a shots and was trying to escape the game before he got drunk way too fast. Pidge and Hunk didn’t catch onto his hints so he escaped the kitchen on his own. Keith wandered through Allura's house in hopes of finding a balcony, he needs some fresh air, the kitchen had been so packed with people playing that roulette game. 

There was a large open entrance to a open area outside, there was a pool and a fire pit with people smoking around it. Keith didn’t like smoking, weed or otherwise, he had done it before and he just didn’t like the feeling it gave him. He searched the crowds hoping to see a familiar face, Romelle was sat alone at the far end of the balcony. 

“Yo what's up Romelle.” He greeted her, feeling the shots start to kick in more as he sat down next to her. 

“Oh, Hey Keith.” she looked shy or upset, Keith couldn’t tell. 

“Why aren’t you mingling?” 

“I’m- I’m too nervous. I think I might just leave.” 

“Nooo.” Keith complained, “Come on we’ll mingle together. I don’t know many people either. Let's go!” He forced Romelle up, she had a drink in her hand that was barely touched. “Down that first, it’ll help loosen you up.” 

Keith and Romelle walked around together for a while, chatting with people and introducing Romelle to everyone. It seemed like she hadn’t met a lot of people, sounded like she spent most days at college alone. Keith felt bad for her so he tried extra hard to introduce people. 

He felt a tight grip on his shoulder, looking back he saw Rolo. Rolo was the token stoner kid of their college, he was always stoned and always trying to get other stoned. Keith wasn’t a fan of him, he was rude, creepy and way too touchy feely. 

“What's up guys? Anyone here up for a game of beer-pong?” Rolo asked to Romelle and Keith. Keith noticed Rolo’s hand around Romelle’s waist which had shocked Romelle. 

“Never played.” Romelle replied. Keith was about to refuse but Romelle seemed curious. 

“Well! I’ll show you.” he pulled Keith and Romelle away from their previous crowd. He began explaining to rules to them both, Keith knew how to play so he just zoned him out looking for someone around them to call out to. “So I think that’s all the rules we’ll just need one more player so we have equal teams.” 

Rolo stood by the beer pong table looking around for another player. He left Romelle and Keith at the table and wandered into a crowd, “one sec guys!” 

He appeared back a minute later with Lance gripped at the shoulders. Lance had a pink tint to his cheeks and was probably buzzed from how much he was smiling. 

“Oh Keith! I’ve been looking for you, Hunk and Pidge got stuck doing shot roulette.” He laughed. 

“I know, I escaped after five rounds!” Keith said back smiling. 

“Okay so now we have all our players let's begin.” Rolo stood by Romelle, wide grin on his face, Keith felt uneasy. He had bene around Rolo too many times to know that he was a creep. 

“Wait! I wanna be on your team!” he began walking over to swap places with Romelle. “It’ll make it fairer, Lance knows how to play Beer pong so we’ll have two teams that are equal match” 

“But, you don’t know how to play either” Rolo caught him out. 

“I- um.” fuck, he needed to think of another excuse quick. 

“Ohhh I get you. Okay gorgeous we’ll be partners.” Rolo flirted, slivering his arm around Keith’s waist. Keith grimaced but endured it, he would rather it him than Lance or Romelle. 

They played a few rounds, although Romelle hadn’t played before she had good aim and Keith was getting more and more drunk by the minute. So was everyone else, he could see people becoming progressively drunker as the party continued. Rolo seemed unphased by the game, forcing Keith to drink each time which made Lance protest to no avail. 

Rolos hand had sat in Keith back pocket gently for the majority of the game, Rolo kept him close by. Keith was obviously uncomfortable but didn’t know how to get away. 

Lance and Romelle along well, she was becoming more open and enthusiastic. Lance and her began high fiving and cheering each other when they would score. Keith was happy to see Romelle becoming more comfortable. 

“Romelle?” Allura said, her face seemed shocked. Romelle ran up to her telling Allura about the game, but she was quickly pulled out of sight. Both girls disappeared into the house, Lance was left alone on the opposite end of the table. He watched Allura and Romelle disappear inside and his smile dropped. 

“Okay Rolo, I think now would be a good time to tell you to take your hands of Keith.” Lance came closer to them. Rolo tightened his grip on Keith's ass making Keith jump. 

“Hey, I’m not doing anything wrong! He never you know... objected” He winked back at Lance whose face was now deathly serious. 

“No, I think I know Keith better than you and he’s obviously uncomfortable. I don’t want to cause a scene dude. Just stop.” He threatened. Rolos hands moved away from Keith's body. 

Rolo held his hands up by his shoulders, giving Lance a dirty look before leaving them. 

Lance turned to Keith, “Are you okay? He’s such a creep I wish I had noticed it sooner I’m so sorry!” Lances expression was sad and caring. He looked deeply into Keith’s eyes. 

Keith nodded and smiled, “yeah I’m okay, I knew he was like that but I thought I’d rather have it happen to me than Romelle or... you.” 

“I swear if another dude touches you like that, I’ll-” Lance cut himself off, Keith blushed. He had never seen Lance like this, serious and jealous? 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Keith and Lance met back up with Hunk and Pidge who were royally smashed. They had somehow been thrown into another crowd, badly singing karaoke to each other. No matter what Pidge said, after a few drinks she was a massive extrovert and could get along with anyone. Allura had disappeared somewhere and Lance had gone in search of her. 

Keith sat listening to the painful singing form Pidge and Hunk come to an end, by the end of the song they were just screaming into the microphone yet people cheered, too drunk to notice the horrible singing apparently. The two of them joined Keith back on the couch as another set of friends took over the mic. 

“Keef!” Pidge slurred. “Wheres Lance?” 

“He went looking for Allura” 

Hunk groaned, “She isn’t right for him dude! You'd be so much better for him!” 

Keith blushed. 

“I’d never admit this while sober so take that as a massive compliment.” Hunk continued. 

“You’re too drunk guys” Keith chuckled. Pidge and Hunk looked at him. 

“You aren’t drunk enough!” They said in unison. 

Hunk wrapped his arm around Keith's shoulders, “Look dude, this is the party to relieve the exam stress! And if you aren't drunk enough to confess secrets you’d never admit sober than you need another shot!” 

“Did someone say shots!” A stranger passed them a bottle of vodka, only a quarter full. Hunk and Pidge cheered taking the bottle off the stranger and beginning to pour a shot into the lid of the bottle. 

“Seriously Keith, if tonight you don’t get drunk enough to confess your gay love for Lance then is there even any point?” Pidge passed him the filled-up bottle lid. 

Keith held it for a minute, Hunk and Pidge watching him impatiently. 

“Guys I don’t think this is a good idea.” he laughed. Keith wasn’t sober but he was still semi-conscious of his actions and he knew getting so shit-faced he would confess to Lance would be a terrible idea. 

“Shush!” Hunk moved the lid up to his lips “Let loose! Keith” 

“Yeah! Keith, this is for you right now. Any mistakes you make are hungover Keith’s problem tomorrow” 

Keith contemplated his next decision. Did he really want to drunkenly confess to Lance? He was still with Allura, they could be fucking right now for all he knows. 

Fuck it. 

Keith downed the lid and leaned forward to pour a second. Hunk and Pidge cheered which caused a chain reaction of strangers cheering, this then caused the strangers to start chanting “CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!” 

The next thing Keith knew he was chugging a bottle of vodka straight from the bottle. He didn’t last long; the taste stung his mouth and he coughed. The bottle then got passed into the crowd and other people began chugging. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Keith rested his head on the back of Allura's fancy leather couch with Hunk and Pidge. They had moved away from the large crowd chugging vodka and singing karaoke, they were sat in the next room which was a little quieter. 

“-I like his face the most.” He rambled to Hunk and Pidge. “Like just fucking look at it. Its perfect.” 

“What do you like most about his face?” Hunk asked. 

“His freckles or his eyes.” Keith answered without skipping a beat, “They’re like mini stars all-over his face and his eyes look like the sky on the brightest summer day” 

Hunker and Pidge listened to Keith pine desperately over every detail of Lance. Keith could talk forever about Lance, his face, his laugh, his hair, his body- 

“You think about fucking him?” Pidge asked. She was smirking, knowing she could get the details out of Keith right now. But Keith knew better. 

“I’m not that drunk Pidg-” 

“Yo guys!” Lance entered, “I keep losing you all. We have a dance party in the next room come on!” he disappeared back into the other room. They followed Lance into the room, the karaoke room had now become a dance floor, crowds of people grinding against each other, a few couples making out on the seats and lots of people dancing. 

Hunk and Pidge encouraged Keith to dance with Lance while they hung back. Lance was letting loose on the dance floor, obviously shit-faced himself. 

“I thought you were looking for Allura?” Keith shouted above the music. 

“I was. Couldn’t find her anywhere though.” Lance shouted back as he danced. “Dance Keef!” 

Lance grabbed his hands moving them up and down to make Keith dance, they started to jokingly dance together. They looked like little kids, holding each other hands and dancing innocently together. They moved their feet between each other's legs, kicking gently back and forth to the music. 

Keith laughed, cheeks flushing pink as the drink hit him harder. Lance smiled at him; he didn’t look away like he usually would though. Lances eye stayed locked on Keith, Keith's eyes met Lance’s and the song changed. 

It was a slow song, romantic and soft. People began to dance slower and Keith could see Hunk and pidge shuffle out of the dance circle. They signalled a thumbs up to Keith as they watched from afar. 

Lance pulled him in closer, placing Keith’s arms around his neck. Lances face was lit a million different colours from the lights, one side of his face illuminated blue while the other side was a red. Keith couldn't take his eyes away, the blue lighting made his freckles more visible and Keith face flushed a deep red. 

They smiled at each other, laughing at the corny song playing. 

“Shouldn't you be dancing like this with Allura?” 

Lance brought his face closer to Keith’s, his eyes were half lidded and his breath smelt of alcohol. “Maybe.” Lance said. “But it's better with you Keith” Lance studying Keith’s face. 

Their faces were inches apart, Keith could see the tiny details of Lances face. He had two tiny freckles right below his eye and a small scar on his forehead probably from a fall in childhood. It felt like it was only him and Lance in the whole world. His stomach was filled with butterflies and his brain was screaming at him, Lance was right there. From afar it probably looked like they were kissing and Keith wanted to be kissing Lance so badly. 

“Lance I-” 

“I love you Keith. I don’t think I’ve ever said it but I mean it. You’re always there for me and you always listen and go out of your way to make sure I’m okay.” Lance looked down at him, “You really are a great friend.” 

Keith felt like he had been punched in the heart. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Keith wandered the hallways of Allura’s house, passing horny couples and passed out people. He wanted somewhere to lie down; his head was spinning. Actually, his entire world was spinning, how could he read a moment so wrong? 

He dragged himself down the hall, pitying himself. Once again, he was back in the same position of having heart ache over Lance. He had excused himself quickly from the dancefloor, avoiding Hunk and Pidge. 

Keith was emotionally exhausted. 

He opened a door without thinking. Allura quickly jumped up and turned to Keith in the doorway. She had been laying on a bed looking up at the ceiling. 

“Oh, Sorry I’ll go somewhere else.” 

“No, it's okay Keith. There's room on this bed for one more sad contemplation.” Allura welcomed him, shuffling across the bedside and laying back down. 

Keith joined her; he lay down on the opposite bed side but their head both sat in the centre of the bed. The room was barren, a basic white dresser, mirror and bed. A few pillows and plushies lay on the bed but apart from that this seemed to be a guest room, but Allura’s clothes were on the chair and her bag and school supplies were thrown hal haphazardly across her dresser. 

They lay in silence next to each other. On the ceiling was stick on glow in the dark stickers that were clearly visible in the dim lighting of Allura’s bedroom. 

Keith thought about Lance, everything he had said on the dance floor and how close to a confession it was. If Lance hadn’t cut him off, he would be in a different situation right now. Maybe even kissing Lance. 

He knew it was bad but he thought about kissing Lance again, kissing his forehead comfortingly, kissing his cheek as a goodbye and kissing his lips softly. He let his heart ache take over, letting out a big sigh. 

“Alot in your mind?” Allura asked quietly. The music was muffled in her room and they could speak quietly without struggling hear each other. 

“Yeah” Keith breathed, sighing deeply again. 

Keith listened to the music outside, it was an upbeat romance song. Cheesy and fluffy, it made Keith sadder. He imagined Lance singing it to him softly while holding his hands and dancing around him. Keith was so drunk, it hit him at once. He was so drunk, so drunk he almost confessed. Thank fuck he didn’t. 

“What are you thinking about?” Allura asked, turning slightly and looking at Keith. 

“Alot.” Keith confessed. “You?” He looked back at Allura. 

“Same” she sighed. 

They looked back up at the ceiling, the song had changed again to a softer song. It was a bittersweet song about unrequited love. It was a stupid perfectly timed song. Keith thought about Lance's laugh, the different types of laugh, he had one for friends and one that Keith only heard when they were alone. It was more raw and emotional; Lance didn’t hold back when he laughed like that. Lance's voice overall was so soothing, he could fall asleep so easily to it. He had done on several occasions. 

He thought about everything he wanted to do with Lance, hold hands, cuddle, embrace, kiss. Keith wanted Lance all to himself, he was greedy and wanted Lance to be his. 

His heart ached. 

“Do you ever feel like you are fucking up someone else's life.” Allura asked. “Like, you are hurting others by doing something.” 

“Yeah” Keith admitted, he thought about Pidge and how many times she had stayed up to listen to him cry over Lance. 

Allura just sighed in response. 

“What if you were keeping someone else from being happy?” she asked. “What would you do?” 

“I’m not sure” 

Allura choked over her next words a little. She stuttered for a second before breathing: 

“I’m gay.” 

Keith blinked, processing what he heard. He turned to look at her, Allura’s face was pained, guilty, sad. 

“But you’re with Lance.” Keith breathed. 

“Yeah, um... I trust you Keith.” She stared at the ceiling, taking a deep breath in. “My Father isn’t the most accepting of... LGBT stuff. I came out just before the holidays and he was horrified. He took all my stuff and ignored me for weeks. I debated running away, but I had nowhere to go. 

He wants me to have a perfect teenage life, be popular, throw parties, go shopping, you get the idea. I felt like I had ruined the holidays by coming out. So, I took it all back and claimed I had a boyfriend. That’s when I went to Lance, I knew he was interested in me and I knew he wouldn’t push or pressure me. He would respect me and take it slow. That’s why I asked him out. 

But I didn’t realise that you...” 

“I like Lance.” Keith spoke without thinking. 

“Exactly, I was blocking you from happiness. But I couldn’t break up with him since my Dad would get suspicious and... I really like all you guys.” Her voice began to crack, he covered her eyes with her arm. “I finally found people I actually get along with but I couldn’t be me around you guys without breaking the ‘I’m Straight’ illusion. And now I feel like I’ve dug myself into such a deep hole I can’t get out.” 

A tear fell down her cheek, she breathed slowly composing herself. Keith watched her; he couldn’t help but feel bad. The jealously towards her had completely died away and he was just left with an emptiness. 

“I don’t know what to do” she cried. 

Keith didn’t know what to say, he let Allura cry out softly next to him. He figured he couldn’t help much apart from be a person to vent too. 

Allura cried for a few minutes, she sniffed and composed herself again. 

“I can’t keep hurting Lance like this. I’m- I’m going to break up with him. You were right about what you said that day Keith. Lance is a really great guy and he deserves someone who will treat him right. So, I want you to be there for him.” She lifted herself on her arm to turn towards Keith. “I want to see you guys get together now okay?” she smiled. 

Keith smiled back weakly. He couldn’t help but feel bad. 

“Allura you don’t have to-” 

“You can’t stop me Keith. I don’t want to block two dudes who clearly love each other from realising it. Besides, I think someone's about the report the party for being too loud.” Allura pulled out her phone dialling 999. “Hello? yes I would like to report a party” She gestured for Keith to leave, “We’ll talk more about everything later” she whispered. 

Keith left Allura’s room, he felt dizzy and was still processing everything. Allura knew he liked Lance? Did anyone else fucking know? Was Lance just oblivious? 

He searched the crowds of people for his friends. Running through the kitchen he ran into Romelle. 

“Keith! Where's Allura?” 

“She's in her roo-” 

“Romelle” Allura charged into the kitchen grabbing Romelles hand. 

Oh 

Allura had finally found someone she wanted to be with, that moment in her room had made her realise that she was holding too many people back from being happy. Keith's eyes met Allura's and he gave her a knowing nod. 

“I’m going to disappear for a while. I have a bag packed from when I planned on leaving before.” 

“Stay in touch okay?” 

“Of course, I’ll text you.” She smiled, running out of the kitchen with Romelle 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Keith found Pidge, Hunk and Lance sat outside by the pool. 

“Keef!” Lance slurred, “where have you been?” 

“Doesn’t matter we have to go!” 

“No, it does matter! I was worried!” Lance grabbed Keith’s hand. 

“The police are coming we have to go now guys!” Keith held Lance’s hand back. 

“Wait what?!” Hunk screamed 

“Oh shit!” Pidge shouted, “Where's Allura” 

“I- I don’t know” Keith lied. 

Pidge looked down to Keith's hand happily attached to Lances and gave Keith a suspicious look. Keith gave her a look back of ‘I’ll explain later’ and she jumped up. 

The four of them fled Allura’s apartment, running to a park nearby. Hunk walked by Lance and Keith and Pidge trailed behind. Keith explained briefly what happened, leaving out Allura’s sexuality, saying that Allura planned on running away from her strict Father and a breaking up with Lance. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Keith and Lance left Pidge and Hunk at a crossroads, Hunk heading for Pidge’s house and Lance sleeping over at Keith's.


	8. The After Party/ Breakup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaa okay here is the after party chapter!  
> Thanks for all the comments and kudos, they make me smile :)
> 
> sorry the chapters have been so short in the last few idk why aha I'll try and make the next one longer.  
> enjoy!
> 
> REMINDER: spoken italics means Keith is speaking in or listening to a language other than english.

Lance was being held up by Keith, his arm wrapped tightly around Keith’s shoulders as Keith held his hand so Lance didn’t fall. His other hand held Lance’s back straight as he had started to lose his balance. Lance sang quietly to himself as Keith laughed along, the song was a Spanish one so he had no idea what the words were. 

Keith's apartment wasn’t far away but it felt miles with how slow Lance was, he lifted one leg high and barely stepped forward, similar to the cabaret dance where the ladies held each other and kicked their legs up. Keith strided forward practically dragging Lance. 

“Come on Lance, we’re so close.” 

Lance began to hum another song which quickly turned into screams in Spanish. He leaped out of Keith’s grip and held his hands up to sky spinning himself on the street. Keith reached for Lance and Lance ran further away, holding onto a lamppost and spinning around it into the street. He sang ‘singing in the rain’ but in Spanish, Keith’s only understood it by the familiar tune. He laughed at lance’s antics. 

“Dance with me Keef” Lance shouted. 

“No Lance we need to go home!” 

Lance moaned tightening his grip on the lamppost. Keith held his hips attempting to pull him off it but Lance wrapped his arms around the post giving him more resistance. 

“Lance!” Keith pulled harder. 

“Dance with me!” Lance repeated. 

“We danced earlier!” 

“I want to dance with you again” 

Keith stopped pulling. 

“It was nice dancing with you. You aren’t very good but that makes it cuter.” Lance hugged the lamppost. Keith couldn’t see his face from behind him. Keith sat down behind him. 

“cuter?” 

Lance didn’t speak, he slid himself down and around the pole. His legs and arms still holding it but his head peeking around the side to look at Keith. Lance looked Keith up and down for a moment and then hid his face behind the lamppost again. 

Keith watched him, his face was flushed red from the alcohol and he hugged the pole between them tightly. It was cute, Lance was cute when he got shy. It made the butterflies in Keith's stomach more noticeable. Keith lay back on the street, looking up at the stars. It reminded him of Valentine's day. 

“Keith.” 

“hm?” 

Keith raised his head to look at Lance who was now wobbling on his feet above him. His shadow blocked the light from the lamppost and the edges of his silhouette were illuminated orange. Keith didn’t notice the small smile at the corner of his lips appear as he looked up to Lance. 

Lance looked down at him with a wide smile. His eyes lit brightly, the blue shining through the shadows like the light at the end of a tunnel. 

“You’re smile is cute.” Lance said. 

“You’re too drunk Lance.” Keith sat up, pulling himself up slowly trying not to wobble too much. 

“Says you.” 

“Yeah says he” Keith slurred. 

They both laughed at the irony. Lance laughed a little too hard and almost fell forwards, Keith caught him in his arms. He moved Lances limbs so they were in the same position as before, walking them forward at a faster pace. 

Lance let them walk a few more steps before stopping. 

“Wait, we didn’t dance.” 

“Lance” Keith groaned. He just wanted to go home and sleep. He wanted to drink some water and sober up so could remember everything tomorrow. 

He held Lances hands and held his chest close to Lances. He saw Lances face turn to surprise for moment because of the quick distance change. Lance blushed a little harder. 

Keith began to dance them both back and forth and in circles jokingly. It was an over the top simple dance that made Lance laugh. But he got into it too, stepping in-between Keith's legs and beginning to improvise a tune they could dance too. 

They danced together down the street towards Keith's apartment. Swaying their upper bodies up and down as they moved, Lance continued to repeat his improvised tune watching their feet move between each other. Keith spun Lance and Lance twirled away from Keith. His tune quickly turned into a giggle as Lance spun. 

“Okay we’re home.” 

“Wh- What!?” Lance had been so lost in the dance he didn’t notice Keith had danced him down the street. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

They tried to be as quiet as possible entering the apartment. It was at least 3am and Shiro and Adam were both asleep by now. Lance ran into Keith room and Keith followed quickly behind. He shut the door as slow as possible and looked over to Lance who sat on Keith’s bed. They both laughed at their incredible stealth. 

“Ah fuck, we need to drink some water” Keith left his room, sneaking through the kitchen trying not to alert Kosmo. He grabbed too glasses of water and hurried back to his room. 

Lance lay on Keith’s bed, holding the unopened letter above his face. Keith tried not to react but his smile disappeared. He placed the glasses on the nightstand next to Lance, Lance didn’t look away from the letter. Keith drank his water, waiting for Lance to lose interest. 

“Who writes letter these days anyway.” Lance joked. “Who sent this?” 

Keith took a swig of his water. Sighed deeply and said “My Mum.” 

Lance’s expression changed slightly to confusion. He looked at Keith. “What?” 

“My mom” Keith looked back down at him. 

“Oh, I thought-” 

“She’s not dead. She’s overseas.” Keith began, his drunk brain wasn’t letting him stop. “She sends me them all the time. Whenever she moves to a new location she’ll be at for a while.” 

“Why?” 

“So, I can send one back and she won’t miss it probably.” Keith placed his empty glass down next to Lances untouched one. 

“What happened Keith?” 

“I don’t want to tell you right now. I will one day but not when we are both shitfaced and probably won’t remember it.” Keith blinked away the tears looking away from Lance. 

He really hated his Mum but didn’t at the same time. She sent him letters as much as possible but he never responded. He didn’t know if he wanted to know her yet. 

Keith felt pressure against his waist, Lance had wrapped himself around Keith’s body. He hugged him tightly. 

“I’m sorry I never asked Keith. I should’ve asked.” 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Keith knelt against the toilet bowl, retching again. Lance held back his hair and rubbed his back softly. Keith had gained the sudden urge to throw up, maybe he drank the water too fast or everything had caught up to him? He wasn’t sure, the night had been a flurry of events. 

“Let it out dude. You’re good.” Lance comforted. 

He rested his head on the toilet bowl, breathing heavily. Lance stroked Keith's hair out of his face which made Keith feel like he was flying. Lance’s gentle hands gliding through his hair. 

“Fuck” he said softly. 

“Got it all out?” Lance asked. Keith nodded, trying to stand back up. 

“I blame Hunk and Pidge for that.” Keith held Lances arms to balance himself. 

“Don’t blame others Keith, you drank too much.” Lance giggled. 

“No, they told me to drink so much that I-” He stopped himself abruptly. 

“That you...?” 

“I don’t remember.” He lied. 

“Oh god Keith you haven’t already forgotten the night, have you?” Lance giggled more, making Keith’s stomach jump. 

Lance guided him back to his bedroom where Keith fell face first into the bed. He could feel himself getting sleepier by the minute. Lance began to untie his laces and Keith failed to shuffle himself out of his jacket. Keith huffed in defeat. 

“Keith come on, you can't sleep in those clothes.” Lance pulled his jacket off fully, hanging it over Keith’s chair. 

“Watch me” Keith muttered feeling himself begin to fall asleep. 

“No Keith, I won't allow it.” Lance bounced his knees on the bed to keep Keith awake. 

Keith opened his eyes to look at Lance. 

“I can’t move, I’m too tired.” 

Lance groaned, “Am I gonna have to strip you?” 

Keith just smirked shutting his eyes and burying his face into his bedsheets. He felt all giggly, his smile felt so wide it was stretching off his face. He laughed to himself, kicking his legs in the air. 

“Lance, you’re gonna have to strip me.” He teased in Japanese. “Lance! Lance! Lance!” he laughed to himself. Lance’s weight left the bed and Keith opened his eyes again. 

Lance was going through Keith’s drawer, picking out a change of clothes for them both. Keith continued to cry out in Japanese. 

“Lance! Lance! You’re so pretty!” His brain was spilling out random words and thoughts. “Lance! Lance! I like your face!” Keith began to speak in a singing tone. 

“Keith I can’t understand what you’re saying but stop talking shit about me!” Lance laughed, sitting on the bed with a pile of clothes. 

Keith just laughed and continued speaking, “Lance! Lance! You’re so cute!” 

“Well I know you just said I'm cute. I know some Japanese.” 

“Idiot” Keith spoke another word Lance would know. 

“Hey!” 

Keith giggled again turning his face slightly to look at Lance. 

“Your eyes are the prettiest.” he said softly, looking into Lances sapphire eyes. “like the sky or the sea. Or a really big gemstone. So pretty.” 

“Still can’t understand you” Lance repeated looking back at Keith. Keith just continued to giggle to himself. He felt so funny, like he was a kid again. “Come on Keith I thought you said you were tired.” 

Lance reached out to grab Keith’s waist and Keith curled up into a ball and turned away from him. Keith laughed again, unable to hold back his giggles. 

“You think this will stop me Keith?” Lance reached for the hem of his shirt pulling it so it revealed Keith’s spine to Lance. 

Lance continued to pull and Keith complied, raising his body so that Lance had better access. Once Keith was topless, he smirked at Lance reached for the hem of his shirt. 

“Now you” he said. 

“Oh, so now English Keith back?” Lance said while raising his arms letting Keith strip him of his shirt. Keith held the shirt of over Lances eyes so he couldn’t see Keith admiring his chest. He bit his bottom pulling the shirt the rest of the way over Lance's head and throwing it onto the floor. 

Eventually Lance got them both changed, Keith’s bed was smaller than Lances and they lay closer together. Keith rested his head against his pillow, feeling the weight of his eyes begin to lull him to sleep. He could feel Lance next to him but his eyes were so heavy and he was so comfortable, he didn’t look over at him. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Keith slept like a rock. 

He nuzzled into his pillow, wrapping his arms across it softly. He was so comfortable and warm; his breathing was gentle and barely noticeable. Keith was still mostly asleep, feeling so secure in his bed. Hands scratched his head softly and played with his hair, he hummed at the touch pressing his face harder into the pillow. Lance laughed beside him and Keith noticed how close Lance was. 

Keith jolted up, opening his eyes and quickly adjusting himself to the dim lighting of the room. The sun was rising slowly, filling his room with orange light through his half open blinds. He looked around his room, he saw clothes and shoes on the floor and the usual mess. It couldn’t have been too long since they went to sleep? Keith still felt drunk. Looking down to his pillow he saw Lance looking up at him. 

Oh fuck. 

He was cuddling Lance, him, Keith. Keith was nuzzling into Lance’s neck and wrapping his arms around Lance. A shiver travelled up with his spine, and he felt his face flush red. Lance laughed softly, his voice croaky form sleep. 

“Sorry.” Keith tried to move away from Lance but Lance’s arm around his waist stopped him. 

“Don’t be. Besides it’s not morning yet.” Lance said, obviously still half sleep himself. 

Lance’s face was innocent, sleepy, loving. He looked at Keith as if they were dating, a small smile peeking through on the edges of his lips. He held Keith’s waist, his palm resting against the small of Keith’s back. He was giving Keith a look he couldn’t read. 

“Just a few more minutes?” Lance asked, cupping Keith’s face delicately. 

Keith looked down at Lance, leaning his face into Lance’s hand. 

“Okay, just a few more minutes” he repeated, pressing his head back into the crook of Lance’s neck. Replacing his face with his hand in Lance’s grasp. Lance tightened his hold on Keith’s hand as Keith lowered back onto him. 

Keith heard him sigh deeply before drifting back to sleep. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

When Keith awoke again, he was alone. There was an obvious empty space in his bed that Keith’s hand rested across. His room was dim, no light shined through his shut blinds. Keith blinked slowly, rubbing his face slowly as he sat up. He rested his head on his knees looking around his room, his and Lance’s clothes were across the floor along with his usual mess. 

Keith’s head felt heavy, his eyelids blinked slowly. His hangover was starting to kick in, Keith rubbed his head again. 

The last thing he remembered clearly was leaving Pidge and Hunk at the crossroads. From there his memory faded into vague ideas. He remembered dancing in the street with Lance, spilling his guts in the toilet while Lance and speaking to Lance in Japanese. That was it. 

He checked his clock, 11:21am. 

Keith scratched the back of his neck, still groggy from sleep. His phone buzzed: 

Allura: 

11:23: Hey Keith, hope your hangover isn’t too bad. Do you remember our chat last night? 

11:24: yeah I remember that part clearly, pretty much remember everything from the party I think. 

11:24: Are you okay? 

11:25: Yeah, I think its best I don’t tell you where I am rn though. Think my Father’s going to call the police. 

11:26: Probably best we delete these texts, I’m going to ring Lance soon. 

11:27: Okay, he’s still at mine 

11:28: okay, I’ll speak to you later Keith :] 

11:29: yup, stay safe :] 

He didn’t have any other messages, he assumed Hunk and Pidge were still asleep. Keith’s head ached a little harder as he got up. He wandered out of his room and was greeted by Shiro, Adam and Lance in the kitchen. 

“OH hey sleepyhead. You woke up finally.” Lance smiled at him. Keith glared back. 

“How are you not hungover?” 

“I am. My head hurts but Shiro gave me some paracetamol and Adam is cooking me lunch.” 

Adam smiled from his point near the stove. Shiro slided a glass of water and two tablets across the kitchen counter towards him. Keith groaned taking a seat next to Lance. Lance patted his back and laughed at his misery. 

“So, what do you remember?” Lance asked removing his hand from Keith’s back. 

“I think I remember everything? We left Allura’s party with Hunk and Pidge, left them at the crossroads, danced in the street like idiots, came back here. I threw up, we changed and slept? Then I woke up.” 

Lance waited for Keith to continue, “And?” 

“And?” Keith looked at Lance with confusion. “And then I came into the kitchen?” Keith offered. He had slept like a rock, so once he was asleep nothing else had happened. 

Lance looked away from Keith, turning his head forward again. 

“What? Am I missing something?” 

“Nah man. I’m messing with you!” 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Adams cooking was good as always but Keith felt it tasted even better from the hangover. It was a classic bacon and eggs usually Adam would give them orange juice to add to the aesthetic but Keith’s body was demanding water. 

Lance's phone rang. Keith froze watching Lance pick up the phone and answer casually. 

“Hey babe.” he smiled. “Yeah I’m good, just at Keith’s right now.” 

Lance’s smile quickly disappeared and he excused himself to Keith’s bedroom. Keith felt the guilt sink in. He wasn’t sure why he felt so guilty, because he knew a few hours before Lance that Allura was going to break up with him. 

“What's up with you?” Adam took Lances empty plate. 

“Allura’s going to break up with Lance.” Keith whispered. 

Adam and Shiro turned towards Keith in unison. They looked at each other and hurried to sit by Keith. 

“Why?” Shiro asked. 

“She’s gay... and she's running away from home. Lance was a cover up for her Homophobic strict Dad.” He whispered. Keith held his head in his hands 

“Shit...” they both said. 

“Is she okay?” Shiro asked. 

“yeah.” Keith nodded, “She’s gone out of town I think.” 

“Was the party a cover up for her run away?” Adam asked. 

“I’m not sure. It didn’t seem like it but I think she realised too much and took her chance to run.” Keith spoke a little softer, “She knew about my feelings for Lance.” 

He heard Adam and Shiro both inhale sharply. He held his head in his hands, holding back tears. Keith felt like he could feel Lance’s heart breaking in the next room. 

He sat outside his bedroom door for a while, waiting to hear Lance hang up. It sounded like Allura was talking for most of the phone call, Lance asking a question every so often. 

“So, did you not really... like me?” He heard Lance choke out. Keith’s heart hurt a little more, he liked Lance. He would treat Lance right and not do this shit. 

Keith knew Allura never meant for it to go this way, but it did, and it was going to fuck Lance up for a while. Lance already was terrified of feeling insignificant and finding out that Allura was only dating him for a cover was going to hurt him. 

He heard Lance fall against his bed. Keith counted to 30 then got up and entered his room. 

Lance was sat on the edge of Keith’s bed. His head in his hands, tears running down his face. Keith felt his heart crack a little. Lance was trembling slightly, his lips pursed. 

“I was right Keith. We broke up.” Lance cried. 

Keith sat by him and Lance leaned against him removing his hands from his face. He wrapped his arm around Lances back, holding him closer to him. He ignored his own heart break and comforted Lance. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Allura had told Lance everything, more than she told Keith. She told him about her Father and her coming out before new year's. She told him that she felt trapped and stuck hurting too many people, but didn’t mention Keith. She told Lance about her guilt and regret about the whole situation. Allura wanted to be friends with everyone but she needed time. So did Lance. 

Allura and Romelle had ran away together after the party, it wasn’t planned but just good timing. The party had given her Father a distraction which meant they had more time to gain some distance. They catched an early bus to the seaside where Romelles grandparents lived. 

Romelle and Allura had met just before new year's, Allura had been with Romelle on Valentine's day when she was late. Her and Romelle weren’t dating but they were a few steps away from it. Romelle had been kicked out by her parents when she came out and they had both bonded over it. Romelle had offered to run away with Allura before but Allura was unsure. The night at her party she caved and didn’t look back. 

Lance wasn’t mad at Allura, he was just sad at the whole situation. He poured his heart out to Keith and though it hurt to hear Keith listened. Lance understood why Allura had done it, but it still hurt him. 

Allura was reported as missing the day after the party. Keith deleted his texts and Lance deleted his phone history. Over the next few days Keith, Hunk, Pidge and Lance all spoke with the police. They had agreed to stay silent and clueless, Allura was an adult now and didn’t have to live with her Father. He had no control over her anymore. 

Sometimes she would call Keith or Lance from a different number and update them. Romelle’s grandparents were really accepting and they owned a large mansion on the coast so Allura was completely safe. 

Lance was still sad though, the days after the party he went silent. He would call Keith in the evenings and cry to him down the phone and Keith couldn’t help but the parallels between him and Pidge. Lance spoke less of heartache and more of this incredible loneliness and insecurity he had felt ever since Allura’s first call. 

Keith vowed, if he got the chance, to treat Lance right. Not be distant or quiet, be affectionate and loving. Give him constant kisses and hugs and make him smile all the time. 

Keith just wanted to see Lance smile again.


	9. Step One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I made this chapter extra long :)  
> Hope you enjoy it, I stayed up till like 4am writing this chapter because i was having so much fun writing it  
> :)  
> I really appreciate all the feedback and the comments and kudos. Quarantine has been hard on me and I'm going through a lot but writing this has been a good distraction and it makes me feel better.
> 
> Like always enjoy the chapter!!
> 
> REMINDER: spoken italics means they are speaking in a different language. with Shiro its Japanese and with Shay its Korean

Everyone let Lance be alone for the days after the party. He wanted space from everyone. He called Keith in the evenings, poured his heart out to him. His insecurities, pains, loneliness, Keith heard about them all. And although it hurt his heart; he listened. 

Summer break had begun with a sour twist, Lance was heartbroken and Allura was missing. They let the police get their questions, claiming to know nothing of Allura’s plans or whereabouts. But once things had calmed Pidge demanded Keith and Hunk come over. 

They sat in a circle on Pidge’s bedroom floor. 

“Okay, so I want to initiate project ‘Make Lance better so Keith can finally kiss him.’” She said. 

“What?” Keith jumped at the question, blushing slightly. 

“Don’t deny it Keith we all know. This is a safe place now.” Pidge said in a joking reassuring tone. He deadpanned. 

“Sure but we don’t know if Lance likes me that way.” 

“True but, we know that Lance is bi and Lance is newly single” Pidge added. 

“I’m not going to be Lance’s rebound Pidge.” Keith grimaced, the last thing he wanted was to become Lance’s summer fling because his crush dumped him. 

“No that’s the thing.” Pidge smirked, “Hunk. Tell him.” 

Keith turned to Hunk, he was also smiling. The whole conversation so far felt like a sales pitch. 

“Okay so, he constantly goes to hug or hold you-” 

“Yeah but he’s like that with everyone” Keith argued. 

“True but with you its amplified by like 10 million!” Hunk enthused, holding his pointer fingers up like he was pitching an idea to a company. “And! He had a folder on his phone of pictures of you that he takes when he thinks you aren't looking.” 

“What, wait really?” Keith tone changed to intrigued. 

“He also has videos but those are rare to him and very important.” Hunk continued. “He’ll look at them when he’s sad or feeling lonely. He says he likes your smile. I personally think he hasn’t realised he likes you yet.” 

Keith was speechless. Pidge’s smile was taking up her whole face. 

“So are you interested? In my project now?” 

“What do you have planned?” 

Pidge’s smile somehow grew wider, she had wanted this approval since the moment Keith admitted his feelings. Now she had been given free rein to play cupid. 

“Okay so the first part of the plan is to make Lance feel better. This is what I was gonna suggest anyway even if you said no because like.... lance is sad obviously we aren't gonna do nothing. We gotta make him better but anyway I’m getting off track. 

Step one: 

Cheer up Lance.” 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

“Lance, come on! We know you're in there. Your abuela said you were moping in bed.” Hunk knocked on Lance’s bedroom door. 

Lance had told his family that a girl had rejected him and he was sad about it. His family teased him but let his sulk in his room for a few days. Abuela was happy to see Keith, Hunk and Pidge when they arrived. The three of them stood outside his door patiently waiting for Lance to open. 

He didn’t answer the door. Hunk looked to Pidge and Keith with a shrug. They shrugged back, Pidge elbowed Keith forward. He shyly approached the door. 

He knocked twice, “Um, Lance? You there?” 

There was shuffling behind the door and they looked at each other. Keith stepped away from the door and waited. Lance opened it slowly. He was, quite simply, a mess. 

Lance’s eyes were strained and had bags darkening beneath them. He wore a loose t-shirt with grey shorts and a blanket thrown over his shoulders. His hair was messy but that word didn’t exist to Keith when it came to Lances hair, to Keith Lances hair was extra curly and un-styled. 

“Hey guys...” His voiced sounded sore. 

Lances room was unusually neat and tidy. Clueless was playing on Lance’s TV, Keith and Pidge grimaced at the sight of it. His bed was filled with blankets, pillows and teddies from Lance’s siblings probably as a ‘get better soon’ type gesture. 

Lance curled back up into a ball on his bed, pressing play on Clueless and wrapping the blanket over his head. Hunk sat by the window and Pidge continued to look around Lance’s room, eyeing Keith to sit on the bed with Lance. Keith did, he sat on the edge of the bed, Lance sat in the centre against the backboard. 

“Have you had this on loop Lance?” Keith asked. 

“No, I watch this then Legally blonde then this again.” Lance didn’t look away from the TV. 

“Okay yeah no we aren’t watching this.” Pidge snatched the remote off of Lances bed, Lance groaned in protest but didn’t jump up to take it back. Instead he whimpered and fell forward onto his bed. 

“Piiidge. I’m going through a breakup. I need this.” Lance whimpered 

“No. You need a movie marathon that is either horror or really shitty romance films. No cheesy perfect love Lance, you’ll just hurt yourself more.” Pidge argued, looking through the options on Netflix. 

“Not possible.” lance spoke to himself, Keith heard him. Feeling his heart ache at Lance’s comment 

Pidge had control over the movie choices for the rest of day. They watched Beetlejuice, A Quiet Place, IT, Ferris Buellers Day Off and many other ‘good’ films. The three of them ended up staying the night, watching movies into the early hours of the morning. Hunk ended up stealing half of Lance’s pillow and making himself a nest on the floor that Pidge fell asleep on the outside of. 

Lance and Keith were still awake though, 2am, they sat together watching Happy Feet. Laughing at the stupidity, Lance sat behind Keith who lay with his legs hanging off the end of Lance’s bed. Lance had sneakily been braiding small strand so Keith's hair, Keith pretended not to notice. 

He watched Lance concentrate on braiding his hair through Lance’s mirror near his TV. He could see Lance’s face full of concentration, tongue peeking through his lips like it always did. After finishing his final braid he fell forwards, face planting his bed near Keith. 

“I’m so sleepy!” Lance spoke into his bedsheets. 

“Then sleep.” 

“I can’t.” 

Keith held himself up on his elbows to look down at Lance. His eyes were teary and strained, he hadn't been sleeping well it was obvious. Keith moved himself up Lance’s bed and lance watched him. 

“Just do it like this.” Keith then rag dolled against his bed imitating an NPC death from Oblivion. Lance laughed. 

“Oh okay. Like this” He also imitated the NPC death. 

“Exactly” 

They smiled at each other from their strange positions on the bed. Lance looked up to the ceiling, a frown began to shape on his face. 

“Is it bad that I miss her. Like I knew we were going to break up but, it actually happened.” 

“No, you can miss someone Lance. She is still your friend after all.” 

Lance turned onto his side, resting his head on his arms. 

“Yeah, that’s true. I think I just miss her in the friend group? I don’t know. Maybe I just miss her as a friend. Like I’m worried about her? But I’m still hurt.” 

“That's understandable Lance. What she did wasn’t fair on you. She knew that, that’s why she left you.” 

“I know, but there's a lot of stuff I don’t understand. Like she said that she was keeping me from being with someone better. But like? I don’t know who she means.” 

Keith froze, he was unaware Allura had left him that vague comment. 

Lance sighed, “Maybe she meant it in like a broad term. Like there's someone out there who will treat me better?” Lance turned to look back up at his ceiling. 

Yeah Lance, me. I’m right fucking here. 

“Yeah, there’ll be someone out there who will treat you better Lance.” 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

“I don’t know the controls yet Pidge don’t shout at me!” 

“Lance you have the simplest character. This isn’t fucking hard!” 

Lance groaned and leaned back. 

Keith and Hunk were sat on the edge of Pidge’s bed while Pidge and Lance sat on the floor against her edge of her bed. They were trying to teach Lance how to play Voltron again. 

Lance looked up at Keith with a pout. Keith kept his eyes on the screen. 

“Lance stop being a baby and play.” Keith said. 

Lance whimpered again and picked up his controller. A smile crept onto Keith's face, Lance was just too cute at times. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

“So why are we here again?” Lance asked as they wandered down a random aisle. 

“Because Shay gave me this really good idea to help get things off your mind and release your emotions. It sounds really cool.” 

“What do we do?” Keith asked, watching Pidge search every aisle for what they needed. 

“We get ceramic plates, write our feelings on them in sharpie and then smash them somewhere.” Hunk explained. 

“Oh, that sounds pretty fun actually!” Lance perked up a little. 

They chose their plates and sharpies and left the store. Hunk drove them up into the hills of the countryside, it was a warm sunny day so they took a walk up a popular trail that lets to some cliffs. They were high up and the view was even better than from the abandoned wonder. 

Everyone sat in the empty field at the peak of the hill, writing their feelings down on their plates. 

Keith wrote about a lot, his time in foster care, his Mum and his feelings about Lance. He wrote about how lost he felt and how angry he was for years after finding out his Mum was still alive and how Lance helped calm that anger within him. He described the best parts of Lance hi freckles, his eyes, his smile, his laugh. Keith wrote in tiny writing and slowly filled the plate with raw feelings and emotions. 

They didn’t share what was on their plates but everyone had written a fair amount filling up their plates. Lance’s was also written in tiny writing, not as much as Keith’s but he definitely had a lot on his mind. The sing gang (And Hunk) began walking back down the path to a spot they had seen earlier. The spot was a bridge that hung over a set of train tracks, they decided they would throw their plates just as the train was coming 

Reaching the train tracks they sat and waited on the edge of the bridge. The sun was beginning to lower in the sky and Keith knew he would have to go home eventually. Lance sat next to him looking forward onto the train tracks looking out for the train. 

“Oh hey I just had another idea for something we can do” Pidge said, looking out onto the train tracks too. She was sat on the edge of the bridge cross-legged practically giving Hunk a heart attack. 

The three boys looked at her. 

“We could do a sports day?” The three boys deadpanned. “Hear me out okay? We haven’t done them since like high school and we could do all the stupid one like egg and spoon races and hoola hoop contests.” 

“Actually I think that sounds fun. None of us are sporty so it’d be funny.” Hunk said. 

“Hey! I’m sporty!” Lance argued. “And Keith goes to the gym” 

Pidge smirked at Keith, “well you guys will just have to race then. See who's better.” She looked at Lance. 

“Well obviously I’m better.” Lance muttered 

“Prove it” Keith glared at him, silently challenging him. 

“Fine! I will!” 

Everyone laughed except Lance, “No seriously I will!” he pouted. 

“Okay, we’ll plan a sports day.” Pidge said after calming down her laughter. 

Not long after that discussion the train came. They threw their plates one by one down onto the track, receiving and annoyed toot from the train driver. They just laughed and ran off the bridge before anyone could come after them. 

Smashing the plates felt good, it was like a weight had left Keith's shoulders but it was satisfying to let it all out. The plates shattered into a million tiny pieces and it was nice to see. It felt freeing or liberating, it made Keith think about the stuff that really mattered. 

As they ran back down the path they shouted back and forth to each other, Keith began to lose his breathe and Lance ran up behind him. He grabbed Keith’s hand and pulled him to keep running. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

“Hey Keith um, can I get your opinion on something?” Shiro entered Keith’s room quietly. 

“Sure what up bro?” Keith didn’t take his eyes away from his computer, he was playing a solo round in Voltron while he waited for Pidge and Hunk to come online. 

“Which do you think is nicer. For Adam I mean.” Shiro held his phone in front of Keith. Two rings were displayed, one was a basic silver band that had a strand of a black metal in the centre that shined rainbow in the light. The other ring was similar, a silver band but instead of the black strand it had a white jewel embedded into the centre of it. 

Keith looked at them both, still focused on his game. The black one seemed to fit Adam more, Adam was a jewel guy. Infact, Adam wasn’t a jewellery guy so why was Shiro- 

“Wait are going to-” 

Shiro covered Keith’s mouth with his palm. Keith silenced himself. 

“Yes, but not for a while. I just wanted your opinion on a ring.” Shiro whispered, slowly removing his hand from Keith’s mouth. 

“Definitely the first one, Adam is a jewel type of guy.” Keith whispered back. 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Just wanted a second opinion.” Shiro patted his shoulder. “Thanks Keith.” 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Lance: 

21:09: Excited for sports day tomorrow. 

21:10: Ima beat yo ass Mullet! 

21:12: hmmm 

21:13: we’ll see about that 

21:14: >:0 

21:14: >:] 

21:20: How are you doing btw? 

21:26: Im ok. Still hurt but it gets easier everyday 

21:27: I think hanging out with you guys has helped me a lot :] 

21:28: Im glad 

21:28: :] 

21:30: :] 

21:34: Can I call you? 

21:34: ye of course dude 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

The sports day became a bigger event than they had planned. Lance’s whole household came, Matt came along with Pidge and Shay happened to be visiting the weekend they planned it so she came alone with Hunk. Shiro and Adam obviously came along with Keith as well. 

Lance’s family set up picnic blankets in a large field on the same path The Single Gang (and Hunk) had thrown plates onto. There were actually some signs up near the bride that said ‘Please do not throw things onto the tracks’ they tried to hold back their laughter when they saw it. 

Hunk had brought some homemade snacks along and obviously Lance’s Mama made a massive buffet for everyone. Lance and his Abuela had sewn some small medals from when they announced the winner and his younger siblings had drawn a massive poster that displayed all the races and events that day. 

Shay, who studied SFX makeup, brought some makeup supplies and was giving out free face paints for everyone. Shiro and Adam being the cheesy couple they were got half a rainbow each that connected when they stood near each other, it didn’t line up perfectly and looked kind of silly but it was cute anyway. Lance got the classic Japanese waves painting painted on his cheek and Pidge asked for some lines that made her look like a cyborg. Lance's siblings all had full faces, tigers, Spiderman, zombie, butterflies all the classic children's face paints. 

“Yo Mullet what are you gonna get?” Lance shouted to Keith as Shay painted small details onto his cheek. 

“Oh I don’t know. Think I might just skip it.” Keith smiled back. 

“Whaaat? Nah you gotta get something” Lance moaned. 

“I don’t know what to get though” 

“I’ll think for something for you.” Lance demanded. 

“Fine! You tell Shay what you want and I’ll let her do it.” Keith waved. 

“You pushover.” Pidge muttered to him. Keith glared. 

Sure, Lance could tell him to jump and Keith would ask ‘how high?’ But he didn’t need Pidge pointing it out to him. 

Lance whispered his idea to Shay, she smiled and nodded. Keith sat down by her and she began working, Lance demanded he not know what it was until it was done, though. 

Shay dipped her paint brush into reds, blue and purples. At least Lance had chosen good colours. 

“You and Lance are cute.” Shay spoke in korean. 

“You think?” 

She hummed in approval. “Super cute!” 

“We aren’t dating sadly.” Keith muttered. 

“Really?” 

“Yeah wait did you think we were dating?” 

Shay laughed, holding her hand over her mouth as she did. “Yeah!” 

“Whaaat no I wish.” Keith admitted. 

“Awww” 

“Ask Hunk about it later. We have this dumb plan to make Lance fall in love with me” He laughed. 

He felt like he could trust Shay, she had such a sweet energy around her. And the fact no one could understand them was comforting, reminded him of the time in Shiro's car when he confessed to Lance in Japanese. 

“You guys better not be talking about me!” Lance ran over to them, planting himself next to Shay to look at Keith’s face paint. 

“Oh yeah we were. I was telling Shay about how I’m gonna beat you at all the races.” Keith teased, shooting a look at Shay as she giggled. 

“Pfft, yeah right. Just wait Mullet. You'll see.” He punched Keith's head slightly, standing up to run back over to Hunk, Matt and Pidge. 

“I don’t think it’ll be as hard as you think.” Shay continued. 

“what?” 

“Getting him to fall for you. I think he’s already fallen.” 

Shay shouted Lance back over after a few more minutes of painting. Lance came running, looking at Keith’s face. A smile quickly widened across his cheeks. 

“Oh no, You better not have done me dirty Lance.” Keith groaned. 

“It looks great Shay.” Lance’s cheeks turned pink. “Wanna see Keith?” 

Lance held his phone up, snapping a pic of Keith. 

Shay had painted small stars and hearts across Keith’s cheeks and nose in red, blue and purple. It looked like space blush and matched his hoodie Lance had stitched for him. 

“Woah...” Keith looked in wonderment at the picture. There was a small half-crescent moon under one of his eyes and Shay had painted over his scar to make it look like a watch tower. 

“See! Didn’t do you dirty at all.” Lance smiled, he turned his phone back around. Keith noticed Lance quickly move the image somewhere else as he pulled his phone away. 

“It looks great, actually.” 

“I just figured since you love your hoodie I fixed so much, you should match it.” 

They smiled at each other. Shay muttered “Cute” as she looked at Keith. 

The events for sports day were simple, an egg race, a hoola hoop contest, two-legged race, and a 50m run. The races were split into age categories to make it more fair, younger kids, older kids and parents and Abuela would be the judge/referee. There were also football games and other simple games to play. 

The first contest was the hoola hoop contest. The winner was whoever could last the longest, Keith failed miserably, coming last place. Then Matt in second to last. Lance got too distracted bragging about how he was already beating Keith and he lost his momentum, he came fourth. Then Pidge gave up after laughing too hard at Lance’s failure. 

Then it was just Shay and Hunk. Hunk had surprisingly good hip movement and concentration, Shay looked in the zone too but still nervous. They lasted a good few minutes more than everyone else, they lasted so long that the younger kids started their hoola hoop race early so that they could copy Hunk and Shay’s movements. 

Eventually Hunk gave up and Shay was dubbed the winner of the first contest, putting her at the top of the leader boards. Lance was still happy to be above Keith though. 

“Keith you’re a shit bottom if you can’t move your hips like Shakira.” she muttered to him jokingly. 

The next contest was the egg race. Keith had brought custom spoons that he and Lance had used in egg races when they were younger. Lance and Keith were much more competitive when they were younger and the egg race was the race they did to determine everything. They did egg races so much that Keith’s mum would paint two new spoons for them to race with whenever she had to go overseas. There were at least 6 pairs, Keith had brought them for the nostalgia, hoping no one would bring up his Mum too much. 

Keith had first dips on the fancy race spoons so while everyone else was admiring the spoons and deciding which one they wanted he sat with Abuela. 

“Oh I remember these!” she gently took the spoon from Keith’s hand and admired it closely. “You’re Mother was such a good painter!” she enthused. 

Keith smiled, “Yeah.” he rubbed the back of his neck, blinking rapidly for a moment. 

Abuela noticed his sheepish behaviour. She held his hands, rubbing her thumb against the back of Keith hand softly. 

“She would be proud of who you became Keith dear.” 

Keith smiled, Abuela didn’t know that she was alive. It was sad but also probably for the best. Keith would rather Lance’s family remember her as the sweet military Mum other than the woman so wrecked with grief, she gave up her only son. 

The older kids, aka Keith, Lance, Hunk, Shay, Pidge and Matt all stood at the starting line. They held their eggs in place and braced them self for the go signal. 

“Been a while since we did this Mullet” Lance teased, smirking over to Keith. 

“Yeah, I think I won last time, didn’t I?” Keith retorted back, smirking even harder at Lance who looked away with red cheeks. 

Abuela waved a green flag and they began. Keith wobbled for a moment but quickly remembered how to properly balance his egg. Hunk and Shay was doing well too, but Matt was failing hard. Lance stumbled for a moment which gave Keith a lead quickly catching up to pidge who was zooming ahead. Feeling cocky Keith held up his hand in an L shape at Lance. He heard Lance gasp and he sped up a little more. 

The finish line wasn’t too far from the finish line, about 50m since they were using the same race track for everything. Pidge ended up coming first, surprisingly fast and balanced. Keith was a close second and Lance came in just after Keith. Hunk and Shay were almost tied at fourth place and Matt had given up a while ago. 

The scoring system was based on the amount of players x how many races, so for the older kids it was 6x4 and then their places in the races were deducted from 24 and whoever had the highest number by the end of all the races was the winner. So far Lance were tied on the leader boards, everyone laughed at the irony. 

“We still have two races!” Lance growled. 

“Yeah, I’m gonna beat you in both of them!” Keith challenged, this firing up Lance even more. 

“Just you wait Mullet.” Lance spoke quietly in a tough tone. His face determined; it was extremely hot. 

“Okay so for the two-legged race I think we should do the teams based on height.” Shiro explained. “So that means Shay and Pidge together, Matt and Hunk and Keith and Lance.” 

Pidge burst out in laughter. Lance moaned loudly. 

“How am I supposed to beat him if I’m on his team!” 

“Sorry Lance that’s just the game rules.” Shiro shrugged. 

“That you made up five minutes ago!” Lance argued. Shiro didn’t respond he just passed a band to Lance and pointed to Keith. 

Keith and Lance sat on the ground next to each other. Lance leaned forward tying their ankles together with the band Shiro had given him, he mumbles annoyances to himself. Keith just laughed to himself, laying back in the grass. 

“Oh I’m glad you’re enjoying my pain Mullet!” 

Keith peeked his eye through his arms that rested over his face. “Very much so” he smirked. Lance groaned, tightening the band around their ankles. 

They both stood up slowly and Lance demanded they walk around to get used to walking in sync. Lance was somehow cute and hot when he was in a competitive mood, maybe it was the determination in his eyes or how his tone of voice changed to a deeper rougher tone. 

Something about it made Keith feel like mush. 

After a moment they got used to the feeling of walking in sync and they placed themselves at the starting line. Hunk and Matt seemed to be a hot mess and Pidge and Shay had bonded quickly. 

“Okay so Pidge and Shay are for sure our biggest competition but we have one thing on them.” Lance whispered to Keith, speaking inches away from Keith’s ear. 

“And what's that?” Keith whispered back. 

“Height.” Lance smirked. 

Abuela waved the green flag again and the race started. Lance and Keith had immediately tied with Shay and Pidge. Both teams walked basically in unison, Hunk and Matt weren’t far behind but they definitely weren't as coordinated as the others. Lance picked up the speed and Keith stumbled for a moment but quickly matched Lance’s pace which allowed them a slight distance between them and Pidge and Shay. 

Lance dived over the finish line, taking Keith down with him as he did. He cheered out for his and Keith’s victory, pulling Keith into a quick hug rolling to and fro in the grass. Keith tried not to suffocate against Lance’s chest as Lance squeezed Keith into him. He let go if Keith and pointed to Pidge and Shay, shouting about his success. 

“Okay Lance we get it but you didn’t beat Keith.” Pidge said in a sour tone, even if she denied it, Pidge was rather competitive too. 

“Oh ho ho! Technically I did though as I passed the finish line before him!” Lance smugly answered back. 

Keith was still in shock from Lance’s sudden embrace. Pidge hovered above him still connected to Shay. 

“Hey Keith.” 

“hm?” 

“You’re gay is showing.” she teased again quietly. 

Shay laughed and Pidge turned to her, she pointed her thumb at Shay, silently asking ‘does she know?’ Keith nodded and Pidge squealed grabbing Shays hands. 

“Shay you have to help us out!” 

“Help out with what?” Lance asked, turning to look at the three of them. He was in the middle of untying himself from Keith. 

“Secrets Lance.” Pidge folded her arms. 

“Whaaat. No, you have to tell me now!” 

“Nope.” 

“mmm. Fine I’ll just figure it out on my own. Keith are you involved?” 

Pidge and Shay started laughing. Keith sniggered, pulling his ankle away from Lance and standing up. 

“Maybe” he teased. 

The last race was the 50m run, Keith and Lance were still tied and this would be the breaker for them. Lance did his usual teasing before the race began and when Abuela waved the flag he and Keith were off. Keith had been fired up from all of Lance’s enthusiasm and he was determined to beat Lance purely so he could tease him and see Lance’s determined face again. It was sneaky, yeah, but Keith found that face incredibly hot and he enjoyed teasing Lance. 

Unfortunately, they passed the finish line in perfect unison according to Abuela. So, they raced again, tied again, raced again and tied again. This repetition happened several times before Lance’s Mama had to step in and suggest a different tie breaker. 

She sat Lance and Keith on the ground next to each other and explained the tie breaker. It was basically just a couple quiz of ‘who knows who better’ Lance’s Mama argued that they were so in sync she wanted to see who knew who better. 

“This is just a couple quiz Mama!” 

“Which is very fitting because you two act like a couple!” she retorted back. Pidge exploded into laughter; Keith blushed. Honestly at this point it felt like everyone but Lance could see the chemistry between them. 

“Okay so this is how it’s gonna work. I will ask Keith questions about you Lance and you both write an answer on the paper and hold it up at the same time. If Keith gets it right then he wins a point and the same for Lance with Shiro.” Mama explained, handing both boys a few sheets of paper and a crayon each. 

“First question, Keith, what is Lance’s favourite colour?” 

Keith held up blue, so did Lance. 

“That’s too easy!” Lance moaned quickly being shut up by his Mama. 

“Lance, what is Keith’s favourite animal?” 

Hippo, they both answered. 

“Again, too easy.” Lance repeated. 

“Okay fine, we’ll make it harder. Keith, what is Lance’s skincare routine?” 

This took more thinking, Lance had explained his routine several times to him but Keith wasn’t confident on the order. 

Keith answered: Cleanse, Tone, Eye Cream, Acne treatment, Moisturiser then finally Overnight Cream. 

Lance answered: Cleanse, Tone, Eye Serum, Spot treatment, Moisturise and then Overnight cream. 

Despite Lance’s protests, Shiro and Mama decided that they were the same. Lance muttered about how words can make a big difference in meaning. 

“Lance, what do all of Keith’s caretakers do for a career? So, Me and Adam and also Keith’s biological parents.” 

“Hmm okay, Shiro you work in social care, helping kids find foster families. Adam works in the hospital, I'm not sure what specifically he does. Keith’s Dad was a stay-at-home Dad he didn’t work and Keith’s Mum works- I mean worked in the Military.” 

Lance glanced at Keith after he mentioned Keith’s Mum. Keith appreciated his attempt to keep the tone light, he didn’t mind the question but he was worried people would ask about his Mum if they caught onto the ‘works’ instead of ‘worked’. He smiled softly at Lances, thanking him for the effort. 

Lance answered correctly. 

Lance’s Mama laughed, “Okay Keith. This is mainly just for me to be a nosy parent but. Does Lance have a crush on anyone?” 

Keith stiffened. Pidge and Hunk’s eyes widened at the question, they smirked at Keith. 

I hope he does. 

“No?” Keith said unconfidently. He looked over to Lance who was lost in thought. Keith glanced back to Pidge and Hunk who also seemed to notice Lance’s zone out. 

“Well, Lance?” Mama insisted. 

“Um, well. I don’t know! Just give him the point because I don’t even know they answer to that question.” Lance waved his hands about, flustered and blushing. 

“What's that supposed to mean Lance?” Hunk laughed. 

“Nono, its fine we’ll give Keith the point.” 

So far the tally was Lance 2 – Keith 3. First to 5 won. 

“Lance, what are some of Keith’s fears?” 

“Being alone, winding country roads at night and... I’m not sure about any others.” 

Keith nodded. Lance was correct in the two he mentioned so he won the point. 

“Keith? What’s Lance’s biggest talent?” 

“Making people smile.” 

Lance jumped at his answer, looking over to him in surprise. 

Keith won the point. 

“Lance. Keith’s favourite movie?” 

“Ha that’s a trick question! Keith can’t decide on a favourite movie!” 

Lance won the point. 

“Jesus guys, you are tied again!” Pidge laughed. 

“Okay, we’ll think of a question for the both of you.” Hunk said. 

Pidge, Hunk and Shay stood in a circle discussing the question. Lance and Keith sat patiently waiting, Shiro and Mama had begun talking so it was just them. 

“You really think my best talent is making people smile?” 

They looked at each other. Lance’s face had a small smile, so small it was barely noticeable. His eyes shined with curiosity and happiness. Keith smiled at his expression and nodded. 

“Yeah I do. You make me smile all the time.” 

Lance let out a happy huff and sat closer to Keith. 

“We’re never going to break this tie, are we?” he moaned. Keith laughed, dipping his head. 

“No probably not.” 

“This couple's game was fun though.” Lance said, eyebrows raised in unexpected approval. “Even though we aren’t dating.” 

Keith brain spoke before Keith could think. 

“Would you date me Lance?” He looked at Lance. Lance looked back, studying Keith’s face. His expression was blank, caught off guard by the question. Keith caught with his words. “Just hypothetically.” he covered for himself. 

“Haha um I-” 

“Okay we have our question!” Pidge shouted as they approached the two boys. 

FUCK!!! 

“What time is it?” 

Neither of them had their phones on them or were wearing a watch. 

“What? What kind of question is that?” 

“A nuetral non-biased question! Whoever is closest wins.” 

Keith looked at the sky, the sun was fairly low it was mid-afternoon ish? Lance looked over to his Mama, pulling food out of her bag and placing it on a fold out table not too far away. Kids swarmed her as she swatted their hands away from the food. 

“Like 4:25?” Lance offered. 

“Keith?” they looked to him. 

“Um, yeah about half 4?” 

Lance won; he was one minute off. He knew what time it was since his Mama always brings the food out for 4:30pm. He gloated about his victory through dinner, Keith accepted defeat. He didn’t really care about winning he just liked the way Lance acted when they competed. Plus, it was nice to see Lance be confident in himself. 

After tea they packed everything up. They evenly distributed the items between them, Lance, Keith and Shiro being handed the heaviest stuff as they were ‘strong boys’ according to Abuela. 

Lance and Keith walked together, Lance carrying an empty cooler and a bag full of rubbish and Keith carrying the fold-up table and two rolled up Picnic blankets over his shoulder. 

Keith was praying Lance would continue their conversation from before, but he didn’t. Lance continued to gloat about his success and tease Keith. Keith played along, acting annoyed about his loss and challenging Lance to a rematch. 

“I don’t know Keith. You seem pretty tired from today. Maybe I should give you a massage?” Lance said in a suggestive tone. 

“Yeah, I probably do need a massage.” Keith answered before realising Lance’s tone, once he did, he stiffened and flushed red. Lance giggled at his reaction. 

“Okay so flirting is what really fucks with you.” He giggled. 

“Wh- What?” 

“I could see right through you! You aren’t annoyed by your loss at all. When you’re annoyed your whole face goes red and your eyebrows arch really harshly.” he imitated Keith’s ‘annoyed’ face. “It's cute.” he flirted again, watching Keith's reaction. 

Keith blushed even harder. 

Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck. 

Lance laughed louder. 

“What? So you’re gonna flirt with me all the time now?” 

“Yeah, if it gets under your skin.” Lance said in a suggestive tone, leaning closer into Keith’s front view. 

Fuck yes. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Pidge: 

22:46: ahahahahhahahahahhahahahahhaha 

22:46: … 

22:46: AHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA 

22:47: stop.... 

22:47: WAIT 

22:47: SO   
22:47: HE LITERALLY SAID HES GONNA FLIRT WITH YOU TO ANNOY YOU 

22:47: yes... 

22:48: AAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAH   
22:48: OML LET ME TELL HUNK 

Hunk: 

22:48: Damn dude... 

22:48: that’s rough lol 

22:49: … 

Pidge: 

22:48: OML LET ME TELL HUNK   
22:49: … 

22:49: He’s gonna be the death of me Pidge 

22:50: This is too fucking funny! 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

“Right Keith, since you obviously don’t know the difference between a cream and a serum, I’m going to have to show you” Lance, organised tubs and bottles on the bathroom counter as Keith sat on the edge of Lance’s bathtub. 

“In my defence... I never said I deserved the point. That was your Mama and Shiro.” 

“True! But... neither of them will let me do this to them so you will have to do.” Lance answered back. 

Lance tied Keith’s fringe with a hair tie and pulled a head band over his head to push any hair out of Keith’s face. Keith watched him. A small smile creeping on his lips, Lance had that concentration in his eyes again. 

“You like what you see?” 

Lance’s eyes met Keith's. Lance’s tone was curious, suggestive. Flirty. He still hadn’t given up flirting with Keith. To be fair, Keith never argued against him doing it but he never flirted back. He still became too flustered to do so. 

Keith decided to test the waters. 

His eyes travelled down from Lance’s eyes to his lips where Keith's stared for a minute before looking back up to Lance’s eyes. It was playful, silent and suggestive. Pidge had encouraged him to flirt back but he just didn’t have the confidence for it yet. 

But Lance’s face was encouraging him to flirt back more. His face had frozen half surprised and half flustered. Up until now Lance’s several flirty comments had just left Keith a blushing mess which Lance laughed at. Keith was proud with the reaction he got in return. 

Lance explained the finite details about a cream compared to a serum, emphasising on their differences as he showed Keith an example of each. Keith half listened, the other half of him was trying to calm himself down from his flirty move from earlier. He had really pushed himself to do that, and though the outcome was worth it, it was still nerve-wracking. 

Lance’s flirts were so random and unexpected, sometimes he would flirt several times in one outing and sometimes he only did one if any at all. Either way it was a change that Keith hadn’t adjusted to, Lance didn’t understand fully why it made Keith so flustered and that made it worse. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Lance: 

23:04: Keef! 

23:05: >:0 

23:05: KEEF 

23:05: MULLET!!! 

23:07: Good evening, Keith 

23:07: Oh! Good evening Lance. How are you? 

23:07: >:] 

23:08: Whats up Lance? 

23:08: send cute pics? 

23:08: or hot ones ;p 

23:09: … 

23:09: pweese ;3 

23:10: for science? 

23:10: what science?! 

23:11: The science of ‘how much can I mess with Keef’ 

23:11: … 

23:12: I’m already in bed tho 

23:12: even better ;p 

23:13: … 

23: 14: Goodnight Lance. 

23:14: BOO!! 

Keith didn’t take many selfies but he vowed to take more from that moment onwards. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

“So Lance. This is a best-buddy catch up time.” Hunk said. 

“Okay?” Lance was forcefully lay on Keith’s couch while Hunk stood in front of the TV and Pidge sat in the armchair near Lance. Keith stood in the kitchen, pouring everyone hot drinks. 

“So... How are you feeling?” Hunk rolled his hands encouraging Lance to begin rambling. 

“About?” 

“About Allura? Life? Whatever is on your mind.” Pidge offered. 

“Oh right um. Well its been what? Like a month or so since the break up?” 

“yeah about that.” Pidge nodded. 

“Yeah, um. I feel fine? I’m not as sad anymore, I’m more just worried about her. I guess?” 

Keith entered, placing the tray with everyone drinks on the coffee table, sitting on the arm of Pidge’s therapist armchair. 

“Really?” Hunk asked surprised. 

It was surprising how quick he had gotten over her, it had been just over a month since the breakup/party. Lance had spent most his days with Hunk, Pidge and Keith. They had sleepovers, Movie days, went on walks, video called in the evenings basically anything to help distract Lance from the breakup. 

“Well, yeah. I’ve had a lot of fun this month with you guys and it really helped keep my mind in a good place.” 

Keith smiled at Lance’s response, hiding his grin by sipping his cup of tea. 

“And... if I’m being super honest. Me and Allura only ever kissed and made out a few times. Looking back, I should’ve seen the signs that she was a lesbian. Most of the times when we hung out alone, we just bonded more like close friends would.” 

Hunk and Pidge nodded. 

“So really, moving on was more just coming to terms with the fact I was single.” 

Hunk and Pidge nodded again. 

“Anything else on your mind?” Pidge asked. 

“Nope.” Lance shook his head and pursed his lips. 

“Okay, well I’m satisfied.” Pidge patted her knees and stood up, moving to open Keith’s balcony doors, “Now release the hounds!” 

She quickly opened the door and Kosmo came flying in. Immediately jumping all over Hunk and Lance, licking them and jumping up to be petted. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Private Number: 

13:13: Hey Keith :] 

13:14: Hey, how are you doing? 

13:14: Good. Really Good! 

13:15: I’m glad! 

13:15: How is everything? 

13:17: good, just chilling aha 

13:18: How’s Lance? 

13:19: Much better, he’s moving on I think 

13:21: That’s good! I’m glad he’s doing okay :} Hopefully he's moving onto someone else ik 

13:22: aha not quite yet 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Keith couldn't ignore the letter forever. He had meant to read it a long time ago but he had gotten caught with Lance he had just forgotten about it. 

‘Keith, 

How are you? 

You’ll be finishing college soon for summer break, right? That should be fun! I hope you do lots of things with your friends and with Shiro too. Just make sure to wear sunscreen I remember how you burned easily. 

The weather over here has been dreadful, we have had non-stop rain for months. Kind of like in Forrest Gump, I don’t know if you remember that film or not but you loved it when you were younger. 

The ground is muddy and I never get a chance to clean my shoes! So annoying! Hopefully the weather is better where you are and you can have a good summer. 

I’ve been doing well, I moved around a lot recently which is why I didn’t send a letter for a few months. Sorry about that. 

Make sure to visit Dad for me. 

I miss you and I’ll write you again when I can. I should hopefully be stationed here for a little while longer so feel free to write me back if you get the chance. 

With love,’ 

She never signed her letters anymore, she used to sign them ‘with love, Mum’ but she stopped doing that when she got the news of Shiro adopting him. At least she knew to not cross that boundary. 

Along with letter there was a few polaroid pictures of the locations she had visited. A large jungle with trees that raised so high you could barely see the sun, a beach landscape with clear skies. And finally, a picture of Keith’s Mum, she wore a white vest and Grey combat pants. She had her arms wrapped around two companions who appeared in most of the pictures she sent to Keith. 

Keith noticed that she had cut her hair to be pixie cut length and her shoulders were burnt a slight pink form the sun. How ironic, she asks Keith to wear sun protection and then doesn’t wear it herself. 

There was also a small keychain of the location she was at. A classic tourist keychain, she always sent something along these lines. A small object that marks her location in a fun way. The keychain this time was a small monkey holding the flag of the country she was in. 

“Hey Shiro, are you free?” 

Shiro sat watching TV in the living room, he looked back to Keith. “yeah sure, what's up?” 

“I uh, I need to go visit Dad.” 

“Okay let's go.” Shiro stood up and grabbed a jacket. 

Shiro was good like that, he knew not to ask questions and just allowed Keith this. Whenever Keith asked to go see his Dad Shiro complied. Shiro and Keith’s dad had been friends, so going to see his Dad was also important for him as it was for Keith. 

They prayed together at his grave, Kosmo sat patiently behind them. After praying, Shiro stood up. 

“I’ll take Kosmo for a walk then wait for you in the car?” 

“Yep” 

Shiro left with Kosmo, following the stone path back to the car. 

Keith sat in silence for a moment, he breathed then began. 

“Hey Dad. Mum sent another letter, she says to make sure I wear sunscreen and to have lots of fun over summer break.” He smiled, rereading the letter. “The weather had been horrible for her, her shoes are always covered in mud and there's no point in cleaning them because it had been non-stop raining for months. KInda like in Forrest Gump you know ‘when it rains it pours’” He tried to quote the movie, unsure if his quote was accurate. “I think she’s being moved around a lot again.” 

He placed the first picture down near his grave, holding it in place. 

“Look, the trees are so tall that you can barely see the sun when you look up! And in this one look how blue the ocean is and how white the sand is!” 

He looked at the final image down next to his grave. 

“I think she cut her hair short again. Look, here she is with those two guys again, they must be close friends or something as they’ve been in the same team for years now. And look! She has sunburn on her shoulder yet she tells me to watch out for sunburn!” 

He laughed at the irony. Tucking the pictures back in the envelope he stood up. 

“Bye Dad, hope you’re doing well.” 

He waved to the grave with a smile. 

Keith didn’t cry at the grave anymore, he had for years. He hadn’t been able to read the letters back to his Dad without sobbing, but over time it got easier. Keith let himself feel sad, he didn’t feel the need to cry over it anymore. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

“So um, I’m just gonna come open about this since it's been a while and I have thought about it a lot. I know we talked about it before but I just want to confirm it and say that I am bisexual.” 

Lance stood in front of Hunk, Pidge and Keith. Keith knew that Lance planned on coming out to them, even though it wasn’t need as Pidge and Hunk already assumed from that one truth or dare session. But they listened anyway and let him speak. 

“Oh okay. Well thanks Lance” Pidge said with a smile, Hunk nodded in agreement. 

Lance seemed to be waiting for something. “So... that’s it?” 

“Yeah?” Pidge blinked, “why?” 

“Everyone seems to just be so chill with it. Like oh yeah was that a surprise?” Lance said, “Did everyone just see it and I didn’t?” 

“Well you can be pretty clueless to shit Lance.” Hunk laughed; Pidge agreed giving Keith a smirking look. 

“Really?” 

“Yes” Pidge stated, laughing quietly. 

“Okay well what else am I clueless to?” 

Pidge smirked glancing at Keith. He glared back at her. 

“Nothing but it's just very obvious Lance!” Pidge defended. “You just seem to miss a lot of obvious hints towards stuff.” 

Lance groaned, sitting himself down next to them. 

“Voltron?” 

“I’m down for that.” 

“Hell yeah!” 

“Noo!!” 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

“Okay Lance.” 

“yes?” 

“I have created the ultimate breakup playlist.” 

“Okay?” 

“Now I know you very well so I added some of your fave songs.” 

“Okay?” 

“Are you ready for the official. Fuck your ex you can do better playlist?” 

“Um, yes?” 

Hunk nodded at Lances answer. Pidge and Keith sat back on Lances bed watching Lance get more confused as Hunk talked to him, Hunk looked towards them both. They nodded and stood from the bed. 

“Lets go.” 

“Where are we going?” Lance asked they pulled him out of his bedroom. 

“Having a classic teenage coming of age movie moment. It’ll be cheesy and fun and a good fucking time.” Hunk smiled. 

Hunk’s car was an old convertible jeep he had been given second hand off his uncle. Technically he wasn’t supposed to take the roof down but he did on occasion if the moment required it. Hunk and Pidge sat in the front seats and Lance and Keith in the back. 

Lance couldn’t hold back his excitement, he loved moments like this and he was probably enjoying all the extra attention from his friends. He stood on the back seats holding onto the edges of the pulled down roof as Hunk began to drive. Pidge connected his phone to the car stereo and pressed shuffle. 

‘Ain’t it fun’ by Paramore played first. It was a good upbeat start; Hunk’s stereo blasted the song as he picked up speed on the empty winding roads. Pidge and Lance sang along, Pidge dancing with her arms in the front seat as Lance held his hand up, letting wind pass through his fingers as he sang. 

Keith watched him from his seat below, his shirt moved in the wind and it would flash his lower stomach every minute or so. His hair flew out of his face and it allowed Keith to see the perfection that was Lance’s face. His face was slim and detailed beautifully. Keith admired his face, his freckles and how they distorted when he smiled. They really did look like little stars on his face. Lance’s cheeks were coloured a happy pink and his eyes squinted with the wind. Keith turned his eyes to the rear-view mirror and met Hunk’s eyes. Hunk was smiling at him; Keith had been caught red-handed admiring Lance yet again. Keith smiled back and turned his eyes back to Lance. 

Lance’s breakup playlist, made by Hunk, contained a lot of songs by Beyoncé, some popular Paramore songs and other romantic songs. Some couldn’t really be seen as break-up songs but they were cheesy and Lance liked them so they worked well for the moment. Keith also assumed that Hunk and Pidge had begun working on Step 2 of the plan. 

Eventually Keith was encouraged to stand with Lance and they sung together. Lance held his hand up to the sky, trying to hype Keith up so he sang louder. He did. Keith sung as loud as he could, he could feel his throat straining. 

They sung ‘Mr. Brightside’ by The Killers. It was a fitting song for both of them. Keith snag with more emotion when he sang the lyrics ‘jealousy!’ Keith and Lance would turn to each other during the song and sing directly to each other, making emotional faces and acting dramatically to the song lyrics. 

Keith could feel the wind blowing his hair back, it was cool and it gave him an exhilarating feeling of weightlessness, flight. He caught Lance looking at him, he smiled at him and Lance stuttered for a second. Lance came out of his thoughts and smiled back. 

After most of the playlist had been sang through, they stopped and ran into an empty field. Hunk had driven into the middle of nowhere, there wasn’t a building for miles. Off into the far distance they could see a farmer's house and few fields occupied by cows and sheep. But they were a decent distance away from there so they wouldn’t be an inconvenience. 

Pidge sat in the passenger seat of Hunk car with the door open, watching Hunk, Lance and Keith dance around to more music. Pidge was the DJ now playing songs they all knew and some repeats from last time. Of course, Bohemian Rhapsody made a comeback and Panic at the Disco too. 

“Oh wait Lance! I know the best song for right now!” Pidge tapped on Hunks phone for a moment. Then the familiar tune of ‘Chanel’ by Frank Ocean played. Hunk and Keith awed at the song while Lance just looked gormlessly at them both. 

“I don’t know this song.” He shrugged. 

Pidge, Hunk and Keith shouted in shock. 

“Lance it’s a song about being bisexual.” Keith said, “My guy pretty like a girl” Keith sang along. 

“Very fitting for you Lance” Hunk laughed. 

Hunk and Keith continued to sing along and Lance quickly fell in love with the song. He asked for Pidge to play it again on their ride back to his house. Pidge then played songs that had ‘Bi-energy’ and Lance sung along to the ones he knew. 

They dropped Lance off at home and decided to drive back into the city as it was getting late. They laughed at the cheesy events they had just experienced. Hunk was proud of himself, saying that Lance love dramatic moments like that. 

“So, are we officially moving onto Step two now?” Keith asked through laughter. 

“Yep, think it's pretty clear that Lance is back his usual happy self.” 

“Yeah, think its about time we make him realize that he wants to kiss your stupid gay face.” Pidge added.


	10. Step Two / Lance's Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay!! here it is!! we getting close to the endgame now bois :3  
> as always thanks for the support and comments, they make my day.
> 
> Sorry about this chapter coming out a lil late, I got caught up with college work and life stuff.
> 
> TW: there is a section in this chapter with a panic attack, flashbacks, implied parent death and trauma.  
> Its brief and not in too much detail but I just wanted to put a warning there.  
> The section you'd want to skip if you get triggered by this stuff starts on the line: 'Keith's breathing had increased.' and it ends on: 'Keith's vision was blurred.'
> 
> Anyways ENJOY!

Shower water ran warm against Keith’s skin. He was increasing his weights at the gym and he had just finished an intense workout with Shiro. He waited till he was home to shower, carefully scrubbing his body and shampooing and conditioning his hair. 

Once he was out of the shower, he used a small towel to rub his hair to semi-dry it. Doing this meant his hair poofed out a little and it curled at the ends where it was still wet. It also meant Keith didn’t have to blow dry his hair, which he hated. His mirror had steamed up from the shower, he wiped the centre so he could look at himself. 

Lance’s words flashed in the back of his mind; the onetime Lance had asked for pictures of him. He hadn’t asked again since then, Keith assumed it was just to flirt with him and make him flustered but he still told himself he would take more selfies. It didn’t hurt to just take a few. 

He posed in the mirror, arching his back so the light would hit his abs better. A small towel rested around his neck and his hair had begun to curl and poof up from the shower and the quick towel dry. It looked messy but in a good way. His chest and neck were still slick from the shower, so they shined in the light. Keith was shirtless, he had thrown on a pair on grey sweat pants and held his phone up to the mirror. 

Keith tried a few different poses, tightening his muscles as he did. Hi abs and shoulders became more toned in the lighting. Keith took a few selfies in the different poses, looking over each one. They were good, Keith looked good. 

But he didn’t send them. 

Keith sat on the couch with Kosmo lying over him. He cuddled the oversized puppy and watched a movie as Adam cooked in the kitchen. Shiro was working late by the sounds of it. 

Lance’s words flashed in his head again. 

Keith reached for his phone, opening the camera. He took a few selfies with him and Kosmo, His nose and centre of his lips were obstructed by Kosmo but you could see a soft smile in his eyes and the corner of his lips peeked past. He raised his eyebrows to add to the smile and Kosmo stuck his tongue out and looked at the camera. 

“Really into selfies at the moment, aren’t you?” Adam said as he placed two plates of food down on the coffee table. 

Keith jumped at his sudden appearance, pocketing his phone quickly. 

“Nah it was just this one time” He lied. 

Keith had been taking sneaky selfies in his spare time, after the gym, out on the balcony, anytime he though people weren't looking. He had two objectives in mind cute and hot, the two descriptives Lance had said the one time he asked for pics. Keith was silently hoping that Lance would ask him for a selfie again as he had built up a folder of good Keith selfies. 

“That's Bullshit. Shiro hasn’t noticed but I have.” 

Keith glared at Adam. 

“So, why do need to take so many selfies Keith?” Adam smirked, already having a vague idea of what his answer would be. “Does it have anything to do with a certain boy whose name rhymes with... chance?” 

Keith sighed, accepting defeat. Adam was just too observant. 

“He asked me a while ago for a picture of me, he’s been flirting recently since he knows it messes with me. But I didn’t have any photos at the time.” Keith a ran a hand through his hair. “But he hasn’t asked since.” 

Adam thought for a moment. “Well maybe he’s waiting for you to make the next move? He might claim to be flirting as a joke but he probably is trying to test the waters and see how you respond?” 

Keith hadn't thought about that. Lance could be waiting for him to reciprocate the flirting. Keith had done it that one time but had been too scared to do it again since and even that flirt back was weak. 

“Have you ever flirted back?” Adam asked. 

“Once or twice but never on the same level as what Lance does.” 

“Hm, maybe try sending him a photo tonight. Keep it vague and just mention him asking for them a while ago?” Adam suggested. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

The day after his talk with Adam Keith lay in bed. He scrolled through the folder of selfies, jumping back and forth between wanting to send one and not wanting to send one. The time was 22:38, Lance was surely in bed by now or atleast alone in his room. 

Lance: 

22:40: Hey 

22:42: Hai ;p 

22:43: For what reason do I have the pleasure of speaking to Keef at this time? 

22:45: You still want a pic? 

22:45: ?? 

22:47: nvm 

22:47: nah nah go on 

22:49: You asked me a while ago for a selfie 

22:50: I have some now 

22:54: oh! 

22:55: hell yeah! Lemme see 

Keith scrolled through the photos for a minute, deciding on an appropriate on. He chose an image he had taken on the balcony during golden hour. Allura taught him that term. His eyebrows furrowed slightly due to the sun in his eyes, he had a smile through pursed lips. His eyes were clear and detailed in the picture. 

Lance: 

22:55: hell yeah! Lemme see 

22:57: [image sent] 

22:58: There ;p 

23:02: Lance? 

23:02: damn ;] you look good 

23:03: … 

Keith could see Lance smirking through the screen. He was still not used to the flirting; it threw him off and he lost all brain power. 

Lance: 

23:03: … 

23:04: You want one back ;3 

23:05: sure, if you want to send one back 

23:08: [image received] 

Lance was lay in his bed, head against his pillow. His chin was turned upward and his eyes looked directly into the camera. It looked like Lance had just taken it. His skin looked smooth and soft; he had probably just done his skincare routine. His eyes were bright blue in the flash, several layers of colour and depth. Like the deepest ocean in a tropical country. His freckles were clearly defined in the image due to the flash and Lance's incredible camera skills. 

Keith didn’t hold back his smile. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

“Okay gamers. What are our plans to make Lance realise he wants to kiss Keith?” Pidge spoke into the mic. 

The single gang (and Hunk) were playing Voltron online together. They were doing better than before but they were taking the levels slow and steady with the strategy they had perfected. 

“Um, I honestly have no idea how we are going to do this.” Hunk admitted. “Like how do we make Lance subtly realise he likes Keith?” 

“Let me google it after next round.” 

Hunk and Keith waited on a paused screen as they heard Pidge rapidly typing. She clicked her mouse a few times and started reading. After a moment she began laughing hysterically. 

“What does it say?” 

“Give him bedroom eyes Keith! That’s subtle isn’t it!” 

Hunk joined in laughing with Pidge. 

“Okay I found a better website I think.” Pidge’s mouse clicked a few more times. “Make eye contact, touch them more often” She held back giggles. 

“This is all shit I do anyway.” Keith groaned. 

“Lance really is the most clueless person the planet oh my god!” Hunk laughed which then set of Pidge again. 

“Well bedroom eyes it is then.” Pidge giggled. 

“Wait Keith, didn’t you send a selfie to Lance the other day?” Hunk asked 

“Wait what?!” Pidge started squealing. 

“Um yeah. But only because he was messing with me a while ago and asked for one and Adam told me to actually send one back” Keith admitted, stuttering his words. “Did Lance mention it?” 

“Briefly. He sent me about 10 selfies and asked which one was best but wouldn't say much more other than you had sent one and he wanted to send one back.” Hunk said. 

Pidge awed in Lance’s actions. He had taken selfies and gotten Hunk to find the best one for him to send. Keith’s face flushed pink, he was flattered. But Lance could send him a picture of himself from any angle at any time and Keith would find it attractive. Keith was convinced Lance never looked bad. 

“I’m not gonna lie Keith. Lance really liked that picture, so maybe try sending more?” Hunk suggested. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Somehow Lance and Hunk had discovered that the infamous 50-banana split challenge at the dessert café had been approved for groups. This was probably a tactic to increase the cafes popularity. And Hunk and Lance fell straight into that trap, begging Keith and Pidge to come alone and help. 

Pidge still playing cupid agreed, Keith knew fully well that she planned to eat none of that giant banana split. 

When the dessert finally arrived, they stared in shock at it. Turns out, 50 bananas is a-fucking-lot. Not only was there that but there was also a mountain of whip cream, flakes sticking in and out of it. Several layers of ice cream sat on top the bananas. 

Lance looked mortified, definitely in over his head. 

But somehow, they did it! It took them a few hours and they were all close-to-death by the end but they completed it! Pidge helped more than she claimed, after all she had been the one to do it with Lance in the first place. 

Unfortunately, they couldn’t get a £50 gift card each to equally split the money so they just agreed to share ownership of the card. This somehow turned into Lance seeing the card as a baby, he drew a face on the envelope and demanded they ‘show their son the world!’ 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Shiro, Adam and Keith sat in the living area watching a film. It was very funny but they had started joking about something which became a much bigger joke so they were all in tears over their conversation. Keith had doubled over in laughter holding his stomach as he bent forward to hold his head in his knees as he sat. 

Their home phone rang, Keith composed himself quickly while Adam Shiro still giggled. He walked over to the phone in the near corridor. 

Usually it was Shiro’s work calling, Keith answered casually expecting to pass it onto Shiro quickly. 

“Hello?” 

“Hello?” The voice sounded nervous. 

“Hello?” Keith repeated. 

“Um, Is this the Shirogane household?” The soft voice asked. They sounded nervous, the voice was familiar but Keith couldn’t pin point it. Maybe it was a foster family who had been given Shiro’s number? 

“Yes?” 

“Could I please speak to Takashi, if he’s available.” 

“Um, sure. Can I ask who’s calling?” 

The voice hesitated. Keith heard them choke on their words before starting again. 

“It's Krolia.” 

Keith heart dropped, he felt it fall into his stomach. He suddenly felt like he had been punched in the stomach. His lungs felt empty like a blackhole had just opened up inside of him and he was being sucked in. Keith sucked in a tight breath which caught Shiro’s attention. 

He had composed himself and had sat back down near Adam but at Keith’s expression he jumped up. 

“Keith who is it?” He approached Keith slowly, reading his face as he got closer. 

Keith didn’t speak another word; he pushed the phone aggressively into Shiro’s hand and rushed back over to the couch. Adam noticed his behaviour. 

Keith’s breathing had increased and he had begun to shake. He was restless, he couldn’t sit still. His arms needed to move, to flail or touch something. He touched his hair and twisted his hands near his face struggling to decide on which way to hold his own head. 

Why was she calling? It hit Keith harder than he had ever expected it to. The letters were enough to get to him but hearing her voice had sent him back. Keith had processed Krolia’s absence like a death, the letters and memories were all she was. She wasn’t real in Keith’s head, just a person who appears in pictures. Someone Keith would never see or hear again. Her voice had jolted him, grounded him. He was in reality and the reality was that his Dad was dead and his Mother had left him. His Dad was dead. 

He had flashbacks to his Dad. He was a tall man, scruffy hair and a messy beard that didn’t grow in all the way. He had the widest smile Keith had ever seen. 

Keith remembered the fire. It was hot, hotter than you can ever imagine. Fire is much scarier when you can’t control it. Its powerful and unforgiving and- 

Then Keith remembered it. Holding his Dad’s hand as the staircase of his old home fell more and more onto him. There was an electrical issue and the fire had grown too quickly. The staircase crumbled on him but he luckily pushed Keith away in time. But Keith wouldn’t let go of him, he held his hand so tightly. He screamed, struggling to get air into his lungs he began to feel fuzzy. That’s when a hand grabbed him from behind and he was pulled away. 

In the Firefighters arms he watched as two other men tried to free his Dad but he saw the stairs begin to collapse more and the Firefighters adjusted his grasp on Keith so that he wasn’t facing the fire anymore. 

Keith’s vision was blurred he felt a hand on his shoulder but he couldn’t focus. His mind couldn’t pull himself out of the flashback, he just kept reliving it. The heat, the smoke, the breathlessness. 

When Keith regained his composure, he was on the balcony floor. Adam kneeled near him feeling his pulse and speaking softly. 

“Keith can you hear me?” He asked. 

Keith blinked and felt a tear run down his soaked cheek. He breathed slowly and adjusted to his location. His breathing was still jumpy and irregular but he was conscious again. The sky was an orange colour as the sun was starting to set, stars could be seen if he concentrated hard enough. There was a really big cloud that looked like a strange alien ship. 

“Keith?” Adam repeated. 

“I’m okay.” 

“You know where you are?” 

Keith nodded, “On the balcony.” 

“When is your birthday?” 

“October 23rd.” he answered confidently. 

Adam sat back, satisfied with Keith's consciousness. Keith continued to regulate his breathing, the hiccupping in his throat slowly stopped and it started to smoothen. His hands still shook a little but that was normal. 

“Did you have a flashback?” 

Keith blinked away to memory, now having stronger control over his thoughts. 

“Yeah, I think it was the voice.” His voice cracked. “Sorry I’m okay I’m just a little shaky.” 

“Don’t apologise. It's okay Keith, that reaction is completely understandable.” Adam comforted. “Would you want to talk about it, about her?” 

Keith thought for a moment. “Yeah, about her not about the, um, fire.” 

“Sure, go ahead.” 

Keith breathed deeply. “I haven’t heard her voice since I was a kid. I think it sent me back a little. I had forgotten what it sounded like.” Keith couldn’t forget what her voice sounded like now but a few moments ago he couldn’t have recalled it. It was deep, smooth with a slight Texan accent that had obviously faded on her travels. “It was strange.” 

Adam nodded, “I bet.” 

“Where’s Shiro?” 

“Still on the phone.” 

Keith and Adam sat outside for a while. Keith slowly sat up from his position on the ground, they stayed outside so that he could breathe. Shiro had excused himself to his bedroom to speak with Krolia, after 30 minutes or so he left the bedroom. 

Shiro was wearing an expression that screamed surprise, shock and worry. A million possibilities went through Keith's head while Shiro walked towards the balcony entrance. 

“Are you okay Keith?” Shiro asked. 

“Yeah, I am now.” 

“Do you want me to tell you what she called about?” 

Keith felt his lungs tighten as he decided. He looked away from Shiro, Adam held hand on his shoulder. He nodded softly, almost unnoticeable. 

Shiro sat him down on the chair outside and began. Krolia had rung because she had received news that she would be visiting their city in a few months' time, at the end of August. She wanted to see Keith, meet Shiro and Adam, catch up. 

Keith gulped; a thick lump had appeared at the back of his throat. His lungs felt empty. He held himself close like he had done back then. He hunched forward a little, rocking himself slowly. 

After the fire Keith had nowhere to go so they took him back to the police station while they searched for someone to contact. Spoiler Alert, they didn’t find anyone. Keith sat in the station all alone for an entire night before social workers came the next day to find him a temporary home. He remembered wanting his Mum, but she never came. Keith was alone. 

Keith felt that loneliness again now. 

Shiro reached out to pat his back. 

“Don’t.” he snapped. 

Shiro pulled back his hand. 

Once he entered the foster care system Keith shut down. He didn’t want to be held, touched, comforted. It was just him, that’s all he needed. No one had news on his Mum for months and the information he got was vague until a few years later when he found out the truth. But in that first few months of entering the foster system, Keith was alone. He didn’t attend school or talk to friends, even though he missed Lance. 

“Lance.” he cried out softly, holding himself tighter. Nails digging into his arms, if he held himself any tighter, he would get scratches or bruises. 

“Do you want me to call Lance? See if he’s free to come over?” 

Keith’s head was rested near his knees, he nodded, holding back tears. Shiro nodded, leaving the balcony with Adam. The door slid behind them and Keith felt the atmosphere shift. He felt so indescribably lonely, he felt like there was a black smog around him that wasn’t letting him move or see around him. 

It felt like he was 10 years old again, in the foster system. No family wanted to keep him since he didn’t like being touched and he was quiet. Some families took good care of him, gave him space, didn’t pressure him to be affectionate or talkative. Keith learnt to be quiet, passive. He felt like he had lost an important aspect of his life. Lance. 

Lance made him become more open, active and laughy. Without Lance Keith struggled to adapt. 

Pidge helped him come out of his shell. She wasn’t the most extroverted in high school either, they had met at a strange time and while Keith moved from home to home Pidge was one of the only constants in his life. She listened to him but didn’t comfort him to much which he appreciated a lot. But right now, he needed Lance. Someone who would hold him and left him be vulnerable and let him cry. 

“Shiro is going to get Lance now Keith. He’ll be in here in about an hour.” 

Keith sat on the balcony, looking over onto the countryside. He could see the abandoned wonder peeking through the trees in the distance. He watched the colours ride the winding roads in the distance. He did anything but think. 

Adam left him to be alone. Keith didn’t want anyone but Lance in that moment. He had totally regressed back to the mindset he had when he was 11. Just wanting to see Lance. 

He couldn’t stop his thoughts though. Keith saw himself sitting back in the Police station, every hour or so a policeman would enter to check on him. They probably expected him to sleep, Keith still didn’t sleep well to this day. Unless he was with others. He had a vague flash of his face rested in the crook of Lance’s neck, it felt so real. 

The balcony door could be heard sliding open then closed again. Keith didn’t turn to see who it was. His thoughts had gotten to loud. He couldn’t stop seeing himself back in that black smog that surrounded him for months after the fire. 

“Keith?” 

Lance kneeled down in front of him. Keith’s face was hidden within his arms yet Lance searched for him. Lance studied his form, curled slightly, arms wrapped around himself tightly. Head hidden within his mess of limbs near his knees. 

Keith felt the lump grow in his throat. He wasn’t able to speak; he knew he would cry. 

Lance watched him, Keith couldn’t see but he had tears in his eyes that he was desperately blinking away. 

“I’m here Keith.” 

Lance didn’t touch him. Keith was the one to reach out, it was a weak grab. His hand stretched out and him arms bent around Lance's neck, pulling him closer. Lance ever so gently wrapped his arms around Keith’s waist. Keith’s head landed on Lance’s collarbone and he felt the warmth off Lance’s neck warm his face. 

That was it. 

Keith cried into Lance. He didn’t dare speak and neither did Lance. They just held each other. Lance knew there was nothing he could say, he just needs to let Keith hold him. Lance’s hood got damp from Keith tears but Lance didn't care. 

Keith didn’t feel alone. Lance had pushed away the black smog around him. Keith could see now; he lifted his head slightly to look out off the balcony again. The sun had lowered more, the sky was mostly deep pinks fading into dark purple. Keith breathed in Lance, he was familiar and comforting. 

A smile grew in Keith’s face. He nuzzled back into Lance's neck while moving his arms so that held Lance’s biceps. Lance moved his head slowly but kept it rested against Keith’s. Keith’s smile grew wider and then he began to laugh. His cries quickly turned into laughter and he pulled away from Lance a little still rested his head against his collarbone. 

“Oh I see what this was. You tricked me to come round so you could get free cuddles.” He jokingly acted offended but didn’t remove his hands from Keith’s back. 

Keith laughed louder, pulling away to wipe the tears still on his face. Lance only lowered his hands so they rested on Keith’s lower back and he looked at Keith with a soft smile. 

“No no no. You can’t start crying again now. I know your tricks.” He continued, pouting his lips and turning his head to the side. 

Keith continued to laugh, removing his hands from his face he fell forward into Lance’s chest. 

“See. Told you, you only wanted cuddles.” Lance said, moving his hands so they rubbed Keith’s back. “You can just ask for them Keith. You are a very good cuddler.” 

“How would you know?” 

Lance gasped dramatically, “He speaks!” 

Keith laughed, moving his head again so it rested in the crook of Lance’s neck. He tilted his face so he was looking up at Lance. Lance angled his neck and head awkwardly so he could look back at him. He smiled. 

“But seriously how do you know?” Keith was genuinely intrigued, he hugged Lance and even embraced him but to his memory they had never cuddled in bed. Unless Lance just used the term cuddle differently to him? 

“Drunk Keith is very cuddly.” 

“Oh god...” 

“Don’t be embarrassed its nice. So hard to get affection out of you sometimes.” 

“Oh yeah?” 

“Yeah...” Lance pouted dramatically but he lost his concentration and just smiled down at Keith. 

The tone had shifted, Lance was now carefully flirting with him. Keith could tell and he didn’t mind the shift. 

“I could show you how you cuddle when you’re drunk if you want?” Lance said. “But we’ll have to take this to the bedroom.” he teased. 

Keith flushed red and hid his face in Lances neck which made Lance giggle. Lance took a deep breath. 

“But seriously. Are you okay, you want to talk about anything?” He pulled away slightly, holding Keith's cheek with his hand. 

“I’m okay. Now.” 

Lance smiled at Keith. 

Shiro later explained that Keith didn’t need to decide immediately, or at all. Krolia was going to be in town either way so they could just decide closer to the time. Keith was unsure, he wanted to see his Mum but at the same time he didn’t. 

Shiro and Adam agreed that they would only meet Krolia if Keith wanted to. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Pidge, Hunk, Lance and Keith were on the floor in laughter. Pidge had persuaded Lance to let her install a free male dating sim/visual novel onto his computer. It was a shitty computer that couldn’t run a lot of games but these types of games worked just fine. 

Everyone was assigned their own character and Lance was playing the protagonist. Keith could see what she was doing. Keith was assigned a cheery soft boy to read the lines of, Hunk was assigned the classic caring Dad type and Pidge assigned herself the edgy emo boy character. 

They all added extra personality to the characters, they weren't taking the game seriously at all. All the characters had dumb lines and they just added more that made all the characters seem so stupid. Needless to say, they were quickly in tears on the floor, the game was just too funny with the extra steps they took to make jokes that just worked out perfectly. All the characters had dumb over the top voices and Lance was struggling to play the game seriously and concentrate. 

Lance’s Mama knocked on the bedroom door before letting herself in. She carried a tray with 4 mugs of hot chocolate. She shouted a cheery greeting in Spanish, placing the tray down on Lance’s desk. 

“What are you doing?” She looked at the screen. Hunk, Pidge and Keith looked in-between each other. 

“A dumb dating game Mama. We are putting on stupid voices and just having a laugh.” 

“ohh.” She laughed and nodded, “Okay well have fun.” 

They all thanked her and she left with a smile. 

“Dude, she was so chill with it.” Pidge said as she grabbed her mug and sipped. 

“Why wouldn’t she be?” Lance answered, not taking his eyes away from the screen quickly clicking through the dialogue on screen. 

“So, does she know?” Hunk asked. 

“Yeah?” Lance pulled a confused face. “I came out to them not long after I came out to you guys. She said she wasn’t surprised. 

Keith didn’t doubt it, he honestly felt like Lance’s Mama could see right through everything. That’s probably why she demanded a couple's quiz on sports day. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Private Number: 

14:21: Hey Keith? 

14:25: Hey what's up? 

14:26: Would you and the others like to come up some time soon? 

14:27: I miss you guys and so does Romelle :] 

14:29: I’ll ask the others but I’m up for it. It'll be nice to see you again. 

Of course, all the others said yes. Lance didn’t hesitate, his feelings to Allura had faded into almost nothing by now. They agreed to go up for 2 weeks on a summer holiday type of trip, since Allura was by the seaside now. She sent them the address and they planned to travel up there a few days after Lance’s birthday. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Summer was flying by, Keith spent most days with Hunk, Pidge and Lance or at work. Work was a lot slower, he noticed Romelle’s absence a lot. He wondered how they were, he knew Allura was safe but he still missed her. Despite their ups and downs, he had some great memories with her and Allura was definitely missed by the group. It would be nice to see her again. 

Lance’s birthday quickly approached. Keith was prepared. He had been for months; he had ordered a fancy skincare set form Korea. It took months to arrive. Shiro had ordered the ring for Adam too, so when it arrived Keith had to cover for his brother and say it was part of Lance’s skincare set. Adam didn’t pry, luckily. 

Lance’s birthday was spent at his house. His extended family came from out of town and stayed over that night. Pull-out beds and mattresses were set up in the living room for later. Lance’s house was packed full of people, speaking a mix of Spanish and English. 

Pidge was out of her element; she was pulled away by Veronica who demanded she help her on Voltron. So, Pidge and Veronica sat playing Voltron for most of the night. Hunk was swarmed by kids, he had kids climbing all over him as he tried to stick with Pidge. Eventually the kids got distracted by the activities set up and Pidge and Veronicas intense Voltron session. 

Keith was dragged from relative to relative, being forced to have shots in cheers for Lance. He was introduced to Lance’s uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews and distant relatives like cousin’s spouses etc. Some people he had met before but for the most part he was meeting a lot of new people. Luckily the alcohol didn’t get to him too much as Lance’s Mama had set up an incredible buffet of treats and snacks, along with Lance’s uncle who had a barbecue set up in Lance’s back garden. 

The afternoon flew by fast, they had a few drinks, ate way too much food, watched Pidge and Veronica bash Voltron. Keith played with Lance’s younger family members with him for a while. But the evening eventually came and the kids began to fall asleep on the temporary beds. The older relative were sat around a bonfire, having more drinks and catching up. Some of Lance’s family had flew over for this day, so Lance spent most of the day with his family that he couldn’t see much. Hunk and Pidge excused themselves early into the evening, Pidge winking to Keith as Hunk drove away. 

Lance and Keith escaped the crowdedness of his house and sat in Lance’s bedroom. Lance was gently shaking the present Keith had given him. He held his ear to the large wrapped shape, pouting his lips and listening closely. 

“You can just open them-” 

“Nope! I have to do this. This is the fun part.” Lance held a finger over Keith’s lips. He shook the present a little more. “Ah I give up!” He began unwrapping. 

Unwrapping the present revealed a large cardboard box. Lance looked up at Keith confused but carried on. 

His eyes quickly lit up as he realised what Keith had gotten him. Lance gasped, but not in the over-dramatic way, it was a real gasp. He picked up the items one by one, his mouth making a small ‘o’ shape as he looked in awe of the products. Lance was shocked, he was in disbelief. 

“Keith! You fucking didn’t!” he hissed, holding the box close to his chest. A wide smile stretched across his cheeks which were tinted pink. 

“Okay. I’m kind of offended that you think ME.” Keith started, speaking in a joking offended tone. “You’re best friend!” he emphasized. “Wouldn’t get you the thing you mention all the time.” He mocked Lance’s joking offended tone, holding a hand up to his chest and pouting his lips. 

Lance pulled him into a tight embrace. His arms wrapped around Keith’s neck; Keith’s was thrown off by the sudden affection but he quickly melted into it. He held Lance’s waist and nuzzled into his neck as Lance screamed with excitement. 

“Keith!” Lance pulled back, cupping Keith’s cheeks. “You’re the-” 

Keith held his breath. Lance’s lips were inches away from his own. He could feel Lance’s breath on his mouth. Lance had stopped himself from squealing and was looking at Keith. Keith couldn’t read his face; it was serious yet lost. His eyes were deep and observant with a shine of admiration in them. 

Lance’s eyes travelled across Keith’s face slowly, from his cheeks to his lips to where he finally met with Keith's eyes. Then the atmosphere changed. It was already beginning to shift the moment Lance had stopped talking but now there was a noticeable energy. An expecting energy. 

Keith looked at Lance’s eyes, half-lidded and lost in his own. Keith was barely moving but when his face move softly in Lance’s hand, he felt his nose bump against Lance’s. Lance was frozen, lost in Keith’s eyes. Keith couldn’t look away; he was so close to Lance. From here he could see the smallest details, the tiny freckles above his eyebrows, the hint of green in the very centre of Lance’s eyes. He forced his eyes to move, he looked at Lance’s lips. Soft, slightly open. 

He felt Lance’s hands pulling his face towards his own. He didn’t refuse, the distance was slowly disappearing. He felt the tips of his top lip touch Lance’s- 

There was a sudden knock. 

“Keith?” Lance’s Mama entered his bedroom. 

Lance had jumped up and away from Keith. So had Keith, he had slid across the bed so he was closer to the headboard. Lance began walking to open the door but Lance’s Mama was already halfway in his room. 

“Shiro is here to pick you up.” She smiled, not noticing the moment she had just walked in on. 

“Oh, right yeah.” Keith jumped up, he grabbed his jacket and followed Mama out of Lance’s bedroom. 

“I’ll see you out” Lance followed behind. 

Shiro was stood in the porch talking to Abuela, she was smiling up at him and holding onto his arm. She was firmly gripping his muscle. Keith giggled at the sight. 

Shiro started up the engine and just as Keith was putting his shoes on Lance appeared next to him. 

“Thanks for the gift dude.” He blushed. 

Keith blushed as well, “Of course.” They both stood up, looking at each other. Lance coughed quietly and reached out to hug Keith again. 

Keith leaned into it this time. Pushing his head into Lance’s shoulder and trying to hold back his smile. He was pissed about their interrupted moment but he didn’t mind, hugging Lance was enough. As Lance pulled away, he froze for a second near Keith’s cheek. He hesitated and then continued to pull away. 

“Bye Lance.” Keith said softly. 

“Bye.” Lance smiled. He didn’t let go of his grip around Keith’s waist though. Keith waited for him to let go. 

“Lance?” 

Lance was looking down at him with the same face as before, half-lidded with a mix of loss and admiration. He just looked deeply into Keith’s eyes and studied his face. 

“Lance?” Keith repeated. 

“Hm?” he snapped out of it. Releasing his hold on Keith. “Sorry.” he held his arms awkwardly. 

Keith laughed, “Bye Lance.” 

“Bye.” Lance waved as Keith walked to Shiro’s car. 

“What was that about?” Shiro asked with a voice that screamed intrigue. 

“Shiro, we are going to drive down the street and then we are gonna stop and I’ll tell you after I scream.” Keith's breathed. 

Shiro drove for 5 mins, once they were out of sight, he stopped the car. Keith calmly and silently exited the car, stood right outside the car and screamed into the night sky. His voice strained with the volume and passion he was letting out. He screamed a few more times before re-entering the car. 

Shiro looked at him expectantly. 

“Me and Lance almost kissed.” 

Shiro's practically screamed himself. 

Keith explained the situation to Shiro and Shiro listened like a child to a fairy-tale. He swore in Japanese and once the moment was over, they drove home. 

When they got home, they told Adam and collectively screamed at the moment. Shiro and Adam claimed this was big, like really big. No friend just holds another friend’s face and pulls it towards their own to kiss them. Even Keith knew that wasn’t some friend move, that was pure romance. 

He was feeling overly confident. 

Lance: 

23:04: Hey ;p 

23:06: Hey ;] 

23:08: One more bday gift okay? 

23:08: ok?? 

23:09: [image sent] 

Keith sent the shower selfie he had taken a few weeks ago. He was too high on happiness or love or something to care. 

Lance: 

23:09: [image sent] 

23:12: Holy shit. 

23:12: Happy Birthday Lance ;] 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

“Fucking cover me!!” Keith shouted down his mic. 

For some stupid reason Hunk, Pidge and him had decided to play with randoms. These randoms were horrendous players, they didn’t work as a team, didn’t help anyone else out and didn't utilise their role in the party. 

“Thats it Pidge. Next round I’m kicking them.” Hunk stated. 

“Fairs.” Pidge replied. 

“Do it now!!” 

Eventually they all died and kicked the randoms from their party. They were about to start another game when Hunk’s phone rang. He muted himself to answer it. 

“So, randoms are still a bad plan?” Pidge asked jokingly. 

“A terrible idea...” Keith complained. He tended to get irrationally angry about the game at times. 

“Okay okay we wont-” 

“Hang on Lance. Say that again.” Hunk suddenly unmuted himself and Keith and Pidge shut up. 

“Okay well. What if, hypothetically, I had a crush on a friend.” Lance repeated. Keith froze. Pidge screamed but quickly muted herself. 

“Hypothetically?” Hunk said. 

“Yes. Say Hypothetically, I suddenly realised that all my strange feelings towards a friend were actually a crush I had never seen?” 

“Um.” 

“Like, say for example. It was Keith.” Lance suggested. Pidge muted herself again. “Say that I had a crush on Keith, just as a random example. Do you think he would like me back?” 

“This is hypothetical?” 

“Yes I thought we had been over this?” 

“Hm, well since its hypothetical I’m not sure.” Hunk teased. 

“What do you mean by that?” 

“I’m not sure. If this wasn’t hypothetical though I may have more info.” 

There was a silence, Hunk was fishing for info and he knew how to do it. He knew Lance well and he knew that if he worded things right he could get anything out of Lance. 

After a moment Lance spoke again. 

“Okay.” he sighed. “I think I have a crush on Keith.” 

“Think?” 

“Fine! I have a crush on Keith.” Lance admitted. “So what info do you have now?” 

“Well I- Oh hang on my Dad’s calling me.” Keith heard him tap his phone then come closer to his headset. “Okay he’s muted. Keith do I have your permission to tell him that you’re interested? I won’t tell him everything, I’ll just imply it. It’ll give him the confidence to make a move.” Hunk asked. 

Pidge unmuted herself. “Oh my God! Keith! Say yes.” she screamed. 

Holy shit. Holy shit. 

Lance likes me. Oh fuck. OH FUCK. 

LANCE LIKES ME BACK. 

“Keith?” Hunk repeated. 

“Yeah, um go for it.” Keith said. 

“Okay.” Keith heard him distance himself from his headset again. 

“Okay hey I'm back.” 

“Hey. So, what's this info.” 

“Dude. Are you really that oblivious? Keith has to be interested right? He sent you that selfie and he got you that fancy skin stuff for your birthday.” Hunk stated. 

“Yeah but that could just be-” 

“Lance! You’re just really oblivious. Take it from me, I’m pretty sure Keith is interested.” 

“You think? 

“I’m confident.” 

“okay, should I make a move?” 

“Yes!” 

“When? I want it to be good? Maybe I should do it gradually?” 

“Well you’ve been doing that flirting thing right? Just start doing that more.” 

“Oh good idea! Plus we are going to Romelles in a few days so I can start then.” 

“Good Plan!” 

“Okay, thanks Hunk.” 

“Anytime bud” 

Hunk hung up and ran back to his headset. Pidge and Hunk screamed into the mic for a minute or two. Keith was silent, processing still. 

Holy Shit.


	11. The Drive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AA okay i got another chapter out! Sorry about the irregular times between chapters I'm very busy with college work and I broke up with my bf so yeah um. noy having the best time lol  
> Hope you enjoy the chapter things will become more wholesome form here now. I have big things planned :)
> 
> Enjoy! Feel free to leave comments I love reading them

Keith left his packing till last minute. In fact, he had packed his suitcase about 20 million times in his head, but every time he overthought on outfits and went through all his clothes again. By the time he had finally zipped up his suitcase his bedroom was a complete mess. 

Shiro knocked on his door and entered. 

“Hey just-” He looked at the room. “Wow.” 

Keith lay on his bed, suppressing the urge to go through his clothes again. 

“Shiro. Take the bag away from me.” 

Shiro just laughed in response, seating himself next to Keith. 

“Nervous, aren't you?” 

Keith groaned. 

“Keith, you do realise that Lance likes you for you. It won't matter what you wear.” Shiro reassured. 

“Yeah but he probably has a preference!” Keith sat up, waving his arms about as he began to ramble. 

“If he likes you then he won't care what you wear. He’ll just like you being yourself.” 

Keith groaned again, lying back down against the suitcase. Shiro sighed in amusement. 

“Young love.” He breathed reaching for Keith’s suitcase. Keith rolled off it and onto his duvet as Shiro moved it to the hallway. “Get some sleep Keith. You get to see Lance tomorrow!” He persuaded in a joking tone, shutting the door. 

Keith blinked and looked at his ceiling. He got to see Lance tomorrow. It would be the first time they had seen each other since Lance’s birthday and since their almost kiss. 

Would Lance actually have kissed him? 

He thought back to Lance’s palms against his cheeks, pressing against his cheeks gently to smush up his face. The heat emitting from his hands as he pulled Keith’s face closer to his own. Lance’s nose lightly bumping against his as they watched each other's faces. Felling Lance’s breath against his lips and then feeling Lance’s upper lip touch his own. 

Keith blushed, covering his face with his arm even though he was alone. 

Lance actually liked him, like for real it was confirmed. It didn't feel real, like a dream he was going to wake up from. 

Keith slept as well as a kid on Christmas eve. He was in and out of sleep all night, checking the clock to see if it was time to get up yet. 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am, every hour he woke up and had to force himself to sleep a little longer. 

Eventually it reached 8am, Keith heard Adam getting up for work. Taking Kosmo out for his morning walk, returning and then grabbing his keys and leaving for work. 

Keith forced himself up, he had a long shower. He shaved, washed his hair and body. Once he was out of the shower, he trimmed his fringe and attempted to let his hair dry perfectly. Of course, because Keith wanted his hair to look good it didn’t. It poofed up too much on the sides and became frizzy. He accepted defeat and tied it up, where he spent the next 30 minutes making the perfect messy bun look. 

Hunk had stayed at Lance’s house overnight, secretly so him and Lance could discuss Lance’s crush more. Keith assumed they had made plans that Hunk hadn't told him about yet. They were going to pick up Pidge and Lance at the same time and then drive to Allura’s to hopefully get there by midday. 

Keith had a quick breakfast and then rushed out the door with his bag to meet Pidge. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Pidge was stood at their arranged meeting spot. Her bag was significantly smaller than his. It was a two week trip so there's no way he could have overpacked right? 

As he approached her she struggled to hold back an evil smirk. Keith’s stomach sank. 

“Oh no...” He said. 

“Oh well good morning to you too Keith!” Pidge greeted him, placing her hands of her hips. The smirk returned quickly. 

“Whats with the evil smile?” Keith questioned. 

“What? Oh nothing! Um well.” Pidge couldn’t cover herself. She loved playing cupid and she had probably already pulled some strings behind the scenes. “Let's just say that I am also helping Lance out with you now?” 

“What?” 

“Hunk and Lance rung me last night and asked me to be a part of their ‘get Lance and Keith together’ plan. So obviously I played dumb and agreed to help while being SO surprised that Lance likes you.” Her smile stretched off her cheeks. 

Keith was speechless, he couldn’t exactly complain but he also knew Lance was a romantic and would plan a lot of things ahead. Knowing that Pidge was helping him with that made him so anxious. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Hunks car pulled up to the side of the road a few minutes late. Lance rushed out to help put Keith and Pidge bags in the back. Keith was greeted with a quick, nervous hug. It wasn’t a full hug; it was like Lance had wanted to hug him but had backed out half way through. Lance’s hands stayed stuck to Keith’s waist for a minute though, the soft touch made Keith’s knees weak. 

Pidge ran to sit in the front seat with Hunk and Lance, surprisingly, didn’t complain. 

“You not gonna squeal about being sat in the back?” Keith asked as they adjusted their seatbelts. 

“What? No? Why?” 

“You always prefer to sit in the front on long car journeys.” 

Lance stiffened; Keith wasn’t wrong. Lance enjoyed looking out the window on long car rides and having control over the radio. Lance stuttered with a response before Hunk jumped in. 

“Oh yeah we got these for the ride” Hunk passed two takeaway cups to Keith. Two skittle milkshakes. “Might as well start abusing the gift card.” 

“Excuse me, that is our child we shouldn’t abuse it.” Lance retorted, reaching for his own drink for Keith’s hands. 

Pidge already had her hands on the music. She played the ultimate music playlist she had made that night when they all jammed out at Keith’s house. Except there were some calmer songs, it was a chill car ride. They spoke for the first hour or so but then they hit traffic on the motorway and they just let the music play. Lance didn’t flirt with Keith, he assumed it was because others were around but it still disappointed Keith. 

After about 20 minutes in slow traffic, Keith pulled out his Switch and began playing Zelda. Lance immediately leaned over to watch. He would make off-handed comments about Keith’s attacks or how he was playing. He kept doing this until Keith gave in and made a new account so Lance could play himself. Lance acted coy at first but quickly started asking Keith for pointers and help. Pidge would chirp in every so often to mock Lance’s newbie energy. 

“wait so what is Ganon?” Lance asked, as he held the switch up to his face in concentration. 

“He’s like a super evil guy.” 

“Why though?” Lance didn’t take his eyes off the screen. 

“He wants the triforce because it grants you a wish or something like that.” Keith wasn’t too confident on the Zelda lore but he knew the basics, he doubted Lance would ask too much though. 

The traffic was slow, it was horribly slow actually. If lance hadn’t been distracted by the game he had stolen off Keith he would have been complaining by now. Keith and Pidge were growing bored though and Hunk was obviously in need of break. When they got the chance, they pulled over to get some food and stretch their legs. 

Hunk and Pidge insisted on ordering while Keith and Lance stayed by the car. It was obvious to Keith they were reaching for them to have alone time, usually this would have gone straight over Lance’s head. But now he felt tense, nervous. Keith felt this awkward expecting energy between them as soon as Hunk and Pidge were away. 

They stood near Hunk’s car so they could stretch their legs. The car ride had been about two hours now, it must've have been a bad time of year to travel. It wasn’t surprising, it was summer people were probably driving to or from holiday and the seaside area they were going to must be busy this time of year due to the nice weather. 

“Looks like we won't have to long to go once we leave here.” Keith looked at the route on his phone, google maps predicted about an hour more of slow travelling but once they got off the motorway it would be smooth until they reached Romelles place. “Probably only an hour and a half more with the traffic.” 

“That's still ages.” Lance groaned, pacing back and forth. He grabbed Keith’s switch from the backseat and sat on the ground near Keith. He casually leaned against Keith and began playing Zelda again. Keith blushed but hoped that Hunk and Pidge would be a while so he could enjoy this. 

Lance finished the tutorial section on the great plateau and Keith told him which way he should go next. Lance kept getting side-tracked by interesting looking places or wanting to fight another base of bokoblins, Keith let him do whatever he wanted. He laughed at Lance’s failures and Lance pouted. 

“Shut up Mullet.” He muttered. 

“You’re so bad Lance just go to the checkpoint.” Keith argued. 

“Shut up or I’ll give you something to shut up about.” 

“That isn’t the saying” Keith giggled. Lance groaned quietly and Keith felt his cheeks warm. Lance was cute. 

“I don’t think there's a good enough saying that includes shut up.” Lance sat up next to him, the distance between them growing slightly bigger as Lance concentrated on the game again. 

Keith saw his chance and spoke without thinking. The sudden distance made him sad and he felt a wave of confidence go over him. 

“Yes there is.” He looked a Lance, Lance kept his eyes on the game. “Shut up or I’ll kiss you.” 

Lance’s eyes met Keith's. They weren’t touching each other anymore, sat a decent distance away from each other. But a distance not big enough to stop Keith from getting lost in Lance's eyes. 

Then it hit him. He and Lance could kiss here. Oh fuck. Him and Lance could kiss here, he could actually kiss Lance here. No one was around, nothing was stopping him. His face flushed red at the realisation and Keith stiffened next to Lance. 

Lance was still looking at Keith, at his eyes. Keith’s confidence was gone. Lance opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by a shout in the distance off Pidge. She was waving at them, wide grin, as she carried a paper bag of fast food. 

Maybe the universe just didn’t want them to kiss, Keith thought. 

“I’ll keep that in mind for next time Mullet.” Lance smirked as he stood up to walk towards Pidge and Hunk. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

The rest of the ride was smooth, the traffic calmed down so they made up for lost time. Eventually they got off the motorway and the GPS was directing them to a private estate. They approached a security gatehouse. 

“Wow this is really fancy.” Lance muttered as Hunk slowed to greet the security guard. 

“Hey guys, who you visiting today?” The security guard greeted them with a smile, luckily, she wasn’t aggressive. 

“Um, Romelle Quantum. The address is here.” Keith leaned forward to speak the her. 

The security guard looked a logbook, presumably searching for the name. 

“Oh yeah, they left a note saying 4 people would be visiting.” The gate lifted and she smiled “Go right ahead.” 

As they drove uphill the houses became much larger and further apart. None of them had realised where Allura had gone but they were all impressed. Hunk was obviously insecure about his beat-up, second hand car driving through such an established estate. 

They had parked outside the drive of the house that Keith assumed to be Romelles. The exterior was a clean white, it was the type of house you never expect to see in person. A house from the movies about rich successful people or a film you see celebrities touring but the interior resembles a museum more than a home. 

No one offered to knock or even step foot out of the car. Everyone stared at the house, they were probably surprised at the house too. Allura was the one to appear in the small balcony above, waving at them before disappearing. 

“Ok so this is the right house.” Hunk confirmed, him and Pidge left the car and began approaching the house. Keith looked to Lance who was frozen in place, eyes glued on the balcony that was now empty. 

“Lance?” 

Lance blinked. “Sorry, it was just strange seeing her again.” 

Keith was thrown back by that comment. A raging jealous that he thought had died away months ago had come back. He placed his hand next to Lances, moving his little finger so it overlapped with Lance’s. Lance welcomed the touch, looking to Keith. 

“It’ll be okay Lance.” Keith reassured. 

Lance worried face turned to a small smile. “Yeah, thanks Keith.” 

Allura greeted them at the door with hugs and squeals. She was wearing a white sun dress with small flowers, her skin slightly tanner than usual. She looked great, so much happier than before. Keith and Lance approached last, Allura was busy giving Hunk a tight hug to notice them. Romelle appeared too, she opened to the front foor fully so they could come in. 

The climate was more humid and the outside had smelt strongly of the ocean but entering Romelles house was relieving. They had air conditioning on which made Keith cool down a lot and their house had a nice smell of a clean vacation home. The entrance to the house had two mirroring staircases that led up to a corridor to the bedroom's and in-between the stairs was a wide archway that led into a large living room. 

Keith greeted Romelle, they smiled at each other. He glanced back to Lance; he was hugging Allura. It wasn’t a happy hug though, Lance had a sad face as he weakly held his arms around Allura. The frown quickly disappeared when Allura pulled away, being replaced with a wide smile. 

Pidge and Hunk were in awe at the house, not wanting to intrude but looking around in amazement as they waited for the others to stop greeting each other. 

“You guys want a drink or anything?” Romelle offered, Allura stood by her holding Romelles hand with a smile. Lance stood by Keith and Keith noticed Lance’s hand grazing against his own. It was hesitant and nervous; it didn’t make an effort to reach for Keith’s hand but it was obvious that’s what Lance wanted. 

The two girls led the group to the kitchen, which was a modern kitchen that had a maid by the sink cleaning some dishes. The maid greeted them with a smile and continued her work. Allura opened the fridge, allowing them to free range over the drink selection. Coke, fruit juice, water with ice there was basically everything. 

Once they had all had a drink and caught up a little Romelle offered a tour. Obviously, no one refused. They started back at the entrance where Romelle showed them the large dining room, it had large windows that had a view of a well-kept flower garden with a small greenhouse in the corner. It was a beautiful room that was nicely lit by natural light. 

The living room had three large sofas that surrounded a fireplace with a massive TV above it. There were two downstairs bathrooms, one led into a laundry room. The whole first floor was beautiful and screamed success, yet it was still homey. There were pictures and children's drawing displayed everywhere, small items that probably had a lot of sentimental meaning. Blankets and pillows thrown across the couches in the living room. 

Connecting the living room was a conservatory, it was a much warmer room that was completely made up of windows that showed the back garden. The back garden was large, with a pool and jacuzzi and a small stone pathway that led to the flower garden. There was a stone wall that stood on the edge of the cliff, stone stairs led down to the beach which Romelle pointed out to be a private beach. 

Eventually they went up to the second floor, there was a section for the housemaids that Romelle told them to have 3 small bedrooms all with en suites and 1 large bathroom for them to share. There was then a large master bedroom that was Romelle’s grandparents, they didn’t see inside there. 

Allura and Romelle then showed them their bedroom, it was a large room that had a balcony they had seen Allura on earlier. Only one king sized bed with a small area that had a TV and a couch set up. Their bedroom could have been an apartment for one, they had their own en suite that had a bath, shower and all other bathroom necessities. 

“Here's the problem though.” Romelle smiled knowingly and looked at Allura who also wore a smirk. “We only have 3 guest rooms, so two of you are gonna have to share.” 

Keith was stood behind Pidge but he could see her evil smirk appear. Allura glanced down at her and then up to Keith. 

“So, we were thinking. Hunk and Pidge have their own rooms and Lance and Keith share?” Allura suggested, it didn’t come off as suggestion though, more like a well-thought out plan. It made Keith wonder how much planning everyone had done behind the scenes. 

Two weeks of sharing a bed with Lance, it made Keith's stomach fill with butterflies. One night after a party or at a sleepover was fine. But two whole weeks? Keith couldn’t handle that; his brain was exploding. He saw Lance wearing a similar expression to his own but a smile was peeking on the corner of his lips. 

“Well, I guess it makes the most sense? Me and Keith have shared a bed ton of times so it's cool with me if it's cool with you?” Lance looked to Keith, his face changing to a neutral expression. 

Keith stammered out his words, “Yeah sure it's cool with me.” 

“Cool.” Lance looked away from him. 

The exchange was quick but it felt like it had lasted forever in Keith’s head. Allura smiled clapping her hands together. “Great!” 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Shiro: 

16:07: You got there yet? 

16:08: Yeah had the full house tour. It’s a fucking mansion! 

16:12: ahahah cool! Take advantage of it 

16:14: But.... 

16:15: But? 

16:17: I have to share a bed with Lance 

16:18: lol why are you complaining 

16:19: Im not!! Just nervous I guess. 

Keith sat on the sofa next to Pidge and Romelle. After the tour they had decided to chill for a while, they watched TV some dumb movie Keith hadn’t heard of before. To be honest it was quite funny, but it was hard to concentrate on the film. Lance had sat away from him, sitting with Hunk and Allura on the other sofa opposite Keith. 

He felt his heart beating in his ears, his jealousy was getting the best of him. Keith watched Lance talk across Hunk to Allura, wide smiles as they laughed at the film together. Something in Keith was burning brighter and brighter. Pidge elbowed him in his side gently, the sudden contact made him jump especially since he was ticklish there. 

“Yo Keith, want to help me get the bags out of the car?” Pidge looked up at him, giving the eyes that told him not to refuse. 

“Sure.” Keith didn’t have a choice. 

“Oh I’ll come help out too!” Lance stood up but Pidge pushed him back down. 

“Nah we’ll be good on our own, thanks Lance.” Pidge nodded to Hunk who subtly nodded back. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

“So, what are you planning?” 

“Hm?” Pidge looked to Keith and shrugged. “Nothing?” 

Keith hummed with suspicion as they carried the final bags to Lance and Keith's shared room. Keith dropped his by the window while Pidge placed Lance’s bags near the bed. 

“I just noticed you were getting a little annoyed at Lance being all smiley with Allura.” Pidge said. 

Keith flopped himself down on the king size bed. Groaning into the duvet. 

“Annoyed is an understatement.” 

Pidge laughed at Keith’s misery making him bury his face into the duvet more. 

“You could make a move you know? I don’t know whether this could get any more perfect for you. Sharing a bed, having several hours Lance together in the night time” Pidge said in a suggestive tone. 

Keith didn’t respond. The suggestion made his cheeks heat up. But it wasn’t like he didn’t want that. He loved the idea of sharing abed with lance for two weeks. Cuddling, kissing? Making ou- 

Keith swallowed the lump in his throat. 

“I would but.” Keith thought for a moment. “I’m nervous. Like the thought of something actually happening scares the shit out of me. There was this face he had in the car too, just after her saw Allura again. I wouldn’t be surprised if he's into her again.” He spoke softly. 

Pidge watched him, “I doubt that Keith.” 

“I don’t.” 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Lance insisted they go down to the beach at sunset. The sun didn’t even set in that direction but Lance didn’t care. He loved the ocean more than anything else. He rolled up with pants and paddled through the water as small waves crashed against his feet. Hunk, Allura and Romelle joined him. Allura held her dress up so it didn’t get wet and Romelle and Hunk had rolled up their shorts. 

Pidge and Keith sat together in the sand, Pidge playing the sand while Keith watched Lance from afar. 

He was smiling really wide, his hair curled just perfectly and his freckles were hard to see but there were there too. Lance’s eyes squinted from his smile; his arms covered his face as Allura went to splash him again. Keith's small smile faded. Suddenly his view allowed him to see Allura again, stood by Lance as they splashed each other. Sure, Hunk and Romelle were there too but, Keith didn’t have to worry about them. Lance liked Allura. 

The four of them played in the water for a while, splashing each other as the sun turned from orange to purple behind them. Lance’s face illuminated by the sun shining on it, he looked so beautiful. 

Allura splashed Romelle a little too much, making Romelle chase her. When she grabbed a hold of Allura's waist from behind she spun her and leaned in for a kiss. Lance watched the sweet exchange, his smile changing from an open-mouthed smile to a soft smile. He turned his head to look at Keith. 

Keith looked back at him, they didn’t look away for what felt like minutes. Lance’s smile widened again and he walked towards Keith. 

“Come on guys, join us!” Lance stretched out his hand for Keith to grab. 

“No thanks I’m good.” Pidge said holding up a peace sign. 

“Yeah to be honest I think I’m done too.” Hunk appeared behind Lance, Allura and Romelle nodding in agreement. 

“Aw what? We’ve only been here like half an hour.” Lance pouted. 

“I’ll stay out.” Keith offered. “Someone has to make sure you don’t drown.” 

Lance smiled at him, Keith grabbed his hand and once he was stood up he didn’t let go of it. The rest of them looked at him and Lance. 

“Okay, see you back at the house?” Allura said and they began walking back. 

Lance kept a hold on Keith's hand. Even when Keith was struggling to take off his shoes and roll up his jeans he didn’t let go. Keith didn’t try to let go either though. 

Once his shoes were off Lance pulled him to the shore. Keith let a small wave pass over his feet and jolted it. He tightened his grip on Lance’s hand, Lance squeezed it back in response. 

“It's so cold!” Keith hissed. 

“You’ll be fine Mullet.” Lance continued to pull him in deeper. Keith slowed down but didn’t stop. The water kept rising until it reached his knees. By that point Keith had grabbed onto Lance’s other hand too, Lance was stood with his back to the ocean. They were closer now, Keith could see his face. 

Lance’s eyes practically glowed in the fading sunlight. His freckles were more visible now and Keith couldn’t stop staring. 

“You’re staring Keith.” Lance smirked at him. Keith looked at shyly. “It's okay. I know I’m perfect, aren't I?” 

“You are.” Keith whispered back. Not really thinking about what he said, he was so distracted by Lance’s face. 

Lance paused at that. His cocky smirk had disappeared and he looked at Keith who was still too shy to look back. 

“Since when were you a romantic.” He leaned his face in closer to Keith's. Keith stiffened and turning his head further away. “Keth!!” Lance leaned in closer and closer, pulling Keith's hands into his chest. Eventually Lance’s head was resting into Keith’s neck as Lance called out for Keith to look at him. Keith was too flustered to do anything. 

Lance was cuddling into him, not out of sympathy or alcohol, just because he wanted too. 

Lance giggled into Keith’s neck. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

The rest of the night was spent in the living room. They had some tea and watched a few more movies. Keith was basically asleep on the couch when Lance nudged him awake. 

“Keith? Everyone else has gone to bed.” Lance said. 

“Oh crap.” Keith looked around, suddenly aware that he had dozed off. “How long was I asleep?” 

“Not long, 15 minutes or so. Everyone's already gone, they left me to wake you up since we are sharing a room.” 

“Shit sorry.” 

Lance shook his head. “It’s okay. Meant I got to look at you.” He winked. 

They walked up to the room together, Lance had begun to flirt with him now that they were alone. Calling Keith cute or making wholesome suggestions. Keith listened but he didn’t have any responses good enough and he was still groggy from his impromptu nap. 

“Can I play Zelda?” Lance shouted to Keith who was changing in the bathroom. Their room had a small en suite bathroom connected to it, Keith took a quick shower and was just changing into his sleepwear. 

“Sure, go ahead.” He shouted back. 

Keith looked at himself in the mirror, he debated leaving his top off. Walking out onto Lance topless just to see how he would react. No, he couldn’t. Was that too far? Lance liked the picture he got of Keith post-shower but would coming out like that in person be too much? 

Keith decided against it. He wore a pair of shorts and a loose t-shirt, something he would always sleep in. Lance was already changed and lying in bed, holding the switch above his head as he played. 

“Your arms are gonna go dead if you play like that.” Keith said as he got into bed. He kept his distance from Lance like they usually did when they shared a bed. 

Lance played on Keith's switch for a while. Keith sat by him, scrolling through his phone. Eventually Lance lowered his arms and yawned. He wiped his eyes and placed the switch on the bedside table. 

“You going to sleep?” Keith asked, not taking his eyes away from his phone. 

Lance turned to face him, lying in the bed with a smile. Keith looked down at him. 

“No, I’m just gonna look at you.” Lance smirked. 

“W- Why?” Keith stuttered, looking back to his phone. 

“Because you're pretty!” Lance exclaimed. 

Keith dropped his phone onto his lap and covered his face with his hands. Lance giggled. 

“I like making you all flustered.” 

“You like to torture me!” Keith retorted, moving his phone so it sat on the bedside table on his side. 

The room was now dark, they couldn’t see each other. Keith felt Lance near him but he couldn’t tell how close he was. His heart beat hard in his chest, he wanted to reach out for Lance. But he resisted. 

\---------------------------------------------------- 

Keith awoke slowly. The sounds of Zelda quietly filling the room. Keith’s head felt surrounded by warmth, half asleep he nuzzled into it. It was soft, familiar. Keith was comfortable, he fell back asleep. 

He awoke again, not sure how long after the first time. Hands running through his hair gently. They were nice, slowly gliding across his head. He hummed into the touch and heard Lance let out a happy huff. 

Wait- 

He sat up and was met by Lance right below him. OH fuck he had been cuddling Lance. 

“Sorry!” He began to move away before two arms stopped him. Lance wrapped his arms across neck, lowering him gently. 

“No! Stop Keith. You did this last time too. Just cuddle me.” Lance protested. 

“Last time?” Keith asked, lowering himself back into Lance’s neck. 

“Yeah, like I said Drunk Keith is very cuddly.” Lance kept his hands on Keith’s back, one in-between his shoulder blades and the other curving around his waist softly. “In fact. I could show you how drunk Keith cuddles now. Since I never got to last time I mentioned him.” 

“Okay.” Keith complied. 

Lance moved Keith so he was in the same position the time they supposedly cuddled after Allura’s party. Keith had moved say he lay across Lance’s torso, head rested on the other side of Lance’s neck. One hand reached behind Lance's neck to hold the soft curls at the back of his head. The other hand held Lance’s tight. 

Keith was screaming internally. He had done this? And he didn’t remember it? 

“This was it. Ultimate drunk Keith cuddles.” Lance nodded. 

Keith just sighed happily, nuzzling into Lances neck which made Lance laugh. 

“We should cuddle like this every night.” Lance said with a smile. 

“You would like that?” Keith asked, turning his head so he could see Lance’s face. 

“Yeah”


End file.
